Angels' Christian Moore Continues to Put Up Video Game Numbers

Maren Angus-Coombs | Aug 13, 2024

Dylan Widger-USA TODAY Sports

The Los Angeles Angels might be out of the playoff hunt this season, but they have a prospect in Double-A who making his case to be a big leaguer sooner rather than later.

In his first full series of professional baseball, Christian Moore was named the Southern League Player of the Week.

Moore put up ridiculous numbers in his first full week in Double-A, hitting .550 with four home runs and six runs batted in while posting an absurd 1.741 OPS.

Christian Moore is putting up video-game numbers with the Rocket City Trash Pandas. Through six games with the Angels' Double-A affiliate, he is slashing .542/.577/1.167 with 13 hits, nine runs, five home runs, and seven runs batted in.

If most minor leaguers need more than two games to acclimate from the amateur ranks to Double-A, someone forgot to tell Moore.

🏆 CMO POTW 🏆

In his first full series of professional baseball, Christian Moore has been named Southern League Player of the Week! ⭐️ pic.twitter.com/3GWytfDoG1

— Rocket City Trash Pandas (@trashpandas) August 12, 2024

Since he was drafted No. 8 overall out of Tennessee on July 14, Moore has played eight minor league games. He is 19-for-35 with six home runs, two doubles, and five strikeouts. That includes skipping Rookie ball and Single-A.

The 2024 NCAA champion was promoted to Double-A after just two games and has been dominant ever since.

The natural progression for Moore would be Triple-A Salt Lake and then to the Angels, but general manager Perry Minasian isn't saying whether or not the infielder will make his big league debut this season or not.

“We’ll see, we’re going to take it day-to-day,” Angels GM Perry Minasian said on Aug. 1, via The Athletic's Sam Blum. “Hopefully he’ll get his feet wet. Similar to what we did with Nolan last year, get his feet wet, play some games, see how it goes."

The Angels have been known to promote young draft picks quickly. Nolan Schanuel made his MLB debut after 22 minor league games last season and Zach Neto had a similar path the year before.

However, Minasian remains tight-lipped about any possible promotion for Moore.

“There’s no timeframe," Minasian recently told The Athletic. "It’s an individual that’s worked really hard to get to this point. He’s very talented. The makeup is outstanding. He’s someone that we feel like we can challenge to a certain extent. We’ll see.”

Moore hasn't slowed down since leaving Knoxville. He turned in one of the best seasons Rocky Top has ever seen. Hitting in the leadoff spot, Moore hit .375 with 34 home runs, 55 extra-base hits, and 74 RBIs.

Tennessee’s previous single-season home run record was 24 and his 61 home runs throughout his three-year college career make him the program's career home run record holder.