Report offers a hint at when the Angels expect former Tennessee Vols 2B Christian Moore to reach the big leagues
The Los Angeles Angels selected Tennessee Vols second baseman Christian Moore with the No. 8 overall selection in the 2024 MLB Draft. Moore, who won't turn 22 until October, saw his draft stock soar this year after putting up huge numbers for the Vols in 2024 (while also leading Tennessee to a national championship). The […]
The Los Angeles Angels selected Tennessee Vols second baseman Christian Moore with the No. 8 overall selection in the 2024 MLB Draft.
Moore, who won't turn 22 until October, saw his draft stock soar this year after putting up huge numbers for the Vols in 2024 (while also leading Tennessee to a national championship).
The New York native hit 34 home runs and drove in 74 runs while batting .375 with a 1.248 OPS.
Those numbers suggest that Moore is almost big-league ready. And the Angels, according to reporting from The Athletic's Jim Bowden, seem to agree.
Bowden noted this week that the Angeles "supposedly" drafted Moore with the idea of getting him to the big leagues in 2024, though he noted that he's skeptical that Moore will make his big league debut this year.
From The Athletic: The Angels took Tennessee star second baseman Christian Moore (1), supposedly with the idea of getting him to the big leagues this season. I think this is a big reach, as Moore is not a second baseman and probably ends up in left field, while at the plate he has a super-wide setup with no stride, and pitchers showed he’d chase offspeed stuff out of the zone. Moore did hit the ball very hard all season, though, and if you’re looking for a big exit-velocity guy, he’s near the top of the list.
Bowden's criticisms of Moore are fair — there are certainly some changes that the former Vol will have to make to reach the big leagues quickly (though that's every player that's drafted). But I'm not sure those criticisms are anything that's going to keep Moore from making his MLB debut in 2024. It's far too early to know how quickly Moore will adjust to better pitching. As far as his batting setup goes, we see in-season changes from players at the big league level all the time (stride, no stride, toe tap, leg kick, etc). Those adjustments, many of which are for timing, are likely things that Moore is constantly tinkering with as a baseball player anyway. If he needs to make adjustments, he will.
What matters is the athleticism and the hit tool. Moore is athletic enough that he should be able to make the transition to left field (though I wouldn't expect it to happen overnight). As long as he can hit as expected, the Angels will find a place for him in the lineup.
And it sounds like that could be as soon as this season if all goes to plan.
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