Angels’ Christian Moore Eyes Fast Rise To Anaheim
The Angels rushed first-round college position players Zach Neto and Nolan Schanuel to the big leagues.
So the question was asked only half-jokingly on the day the Angels drafted Tennessee second baseman Christian Moore with the eighth overall pick.
A writer asked Angels scouting director Tim McIlvaine if Moore would be working with big league manager Ron Washington this summer.
“No, we’ll let Christian take his time coming through,” McIlvaine said. “I mean, he’s a talented kid, and we’re going to do as much as we can to get him ready for when he does come up to the big leagues.”
One week into Moore’s professional career, his pace mirrored that of Neto and Schanuel.
The righthanded hitter, who signed for a well-under-slot $5 million, played just two games for Low-A Inland Empire before being promoted to Double-A Rocket City on Aug. 2.
Through 12 Southern League games, he hit .383/.442/.723 with five home runs.
“Christian is hungry, and I think once he gets in this pro environment, he’s gonna take off,” McIlvaine said. “He’s got a lot of power. He plays with a lot of energy, a lot of confidence. He’s gonna be a lot of fun to watch.”
Moore packs a considerable amount of power in his muscular 6-foot-1, 210-pound frame, as he showed this season by hitting .375 with 34 homers while leading Tennessee to its first College World Series title.
A routine physical performed before Moore’s freshman year set the stage for his climb. He learned that he had an astigmatism in his right eye.
“I did an eye test as part of my physical, and the doctor said to cover my left eye and read as much (of the eye chart) as I can,” Moore said. “I said, ‘A, B, D.’ He said, ‘That’s all you can see?’ I said, ‘Pretty much.’
“He said to try the other eye. Same thing. He’s like, ‘Dude, you’re blind. How are you here right now? How are you a hitter in the SEC?’
“I was like, ‘I don’t know. I just swing at the white thing coming at my face.’ I came to find out my eyes were pretty bad, so they fitted me with contacts. It definitely helped.”
