Angels send Christian Moore back to Triple-A

Moore is 1-for-8 with a sac fly as a left fielder on Thursday and a DH last night. The Angels are picking Donovan Walton and Denzer Guzman over him tonight.

At least the night doesn’t look quite as bad as it would have if Vaughn Grissom hadn’t gotten a hit to bring him to the plate with two outs in the ninth and given him a chance to collect a late single. Moore, though, had a really tough time in left field, a position he’d played just nine times as a pro and sparingly in college. He misjudged Nick Kurtz’s fly to deep left in the first and gave him a double that helped fuel a five-run inning, and he was charged with an error on a tougher play in the fifth, when he slightly overran Jonah Heim’s fly and had it go off his glove for an error. The Angels might keep Moore in left field for now, but he’d surely be more comfortable at second or third.

With Mike Trout (hamstring) landing on the injured list, Moore will get another opportunity to show what he can do at the big league level. The 23-year-old was sizzling at the Triple-A level, slashing .333/.468/.585 with nine homers, 45 RBI and 10 stolen bases in 252 plate appearances.

Moore was placed on the Triple-A injured list on May 4th with a leg injury. He wound up missing about a week and has been on fire since coming back, going 38-for-102 (.373) with three home runs, 28 runs scored, 25 RBI, five steals, and a 26/18 K/BB ratio. Considering he struck out 33.7 percent of the time in his 53 MLB games last season, that K/BB ratio is a major improvement. The 23-year-old has also been playing third base lately, which should expedite his path back to the majors since Denzer Guzman is currently playing there for the Angels. We could see Moore back up in the big leagues pretty soon.

The issue is considered “minor,” and the expectation is that he won’t be out long, but any absence is going to delay his potential call-up to the big leagues. Moore is hitting just .219 in 21 Triple-A games, but he has a .437 on-base percentage due to a 27.2 percent walk rate. He has a solid 40 percent hard-hit rate, but he’ll need to take that elite plate discipline and start to turn those at-bats into hits.

The move paves a relatively unobstructed path for veteran Adam Frazier to open the year as the Angels’ starting second baseman. Technically, Oswald Peraza, Nick Madrigal and Vaughn Grissom remain in the mix but they’ve struggled this spring and make more sense in bench roles. Los Angeles took Moore with the eighth-overall pick back in 2024, one spot before Pittsburgh grabbed baseball’s current top prospect Konnor Griffin. The 23-year-old second baseman has hit just .198/.284/.370 with seven homers in 53 games at the highest level and has struggled to emerge as an everyday option.

Moore struck out in two of his three at-bats today, but the homer was an impressive 390-foot shot to left center on a sinker running down and in on him. The Angels have Moore and Vaughn Grissom battling for the second base job in camp, with Adam Frazier, Nick Madrigal and Kyren Paris available as fallbacks. Grissom figures to make the team in some role, since he’s out of options, while the 23-year-old Moore figures to be sent down to Triple-A if he’s beaten out for the job.

This deal was reported last week and is now official after Moncada passed a physical. The 30-year-old played in 84 games for the Angels last season, hitting .234/.336/.448 in 289 plate appearances. He will head into spring training as the favorite to start at third base, with Christian Moore battling Vaughn Grissom and Oswald Peraza for the second base job.

While his defense has declined after all of his injuries, Moncada showed a decent enough bat in 84 games for the Angels last season, hitting .234/.336/.448 in 289 plate appearances. Bringing him back might block Christian Moore in Anaheim, but it’s not like the Angels figure to have Moncada, Mike Trout, Jorge Soler and the rest of the gang healthy all at once very often.

The Red Sox thought Grissom could be their long-term second baseman when they acquired him from the Braves for Chris Sale prior to the 2024 campaign, but he was often hurt and hit just .190 in 31 major league games during his two-year stint with the club. He’ll get a fresh start with the Angels, who have openings at second base and third base at the moment. If he makes the team, it could be at second, with top prospect Christian Moore moving to third or heading to Triple-A. If not, he’ll likely go on waivers, since he’s out of options.