Christian Moore is back from injury and back in the lineup for the Los Angeles Angels Sunday afternoon against the Chicago White Sox. The former Tennessee Baseball star turned first-round MLB Draft pick had been sidelined since July 2 with a sprained left thumb.
Moore went 5-for-11 in four rehab appearances before called back up to the Angels.
Moore is batting .189 with a .302 on-base percentage through the first 18 games of his Major League career. He has eight RBI, scored eight runs and eight walks to go with 10 hits, with one triple and three home runs.
Christian Moore made MLB history June 24 vs. Red Sox
The Angels picked Moore at No. 8 overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft and he made it to the Big Leagues just 11 months after getting drafted, making his debut June 13 against Baltimore.
In his first 11 games in the majors Moore hit three home runs and had a triple with six RBI and five runs scored.
On June 24 Moore became the first player in MLB history, according to Opta Stats, Moore to hit a game-tying home run, hit a walk-off home run with his team trailing and account for all of his team’s runs in the same game when the Angels beat the Red Sox.
Moore hit the game-tying home run in the bottom of the eighth inning, then hit a walk-off two-run home run in the bottom of the 10th.
“It means the world to me to be here in this situation,” Moore said at the time, according to ESPN. “It’s a full, complete circle, obviously. The Angels saw something in me at last year’s draft, and they continue to see something in me, and I’m going to continue to go out there and try to win games.”
Christian Moore led Tennessee to its first national title last season
Moore as a junior last season led Tennessee to its first national championship after setting program records with 34 home runs, 55 extra-base hits and 236 total bases. He hit .375 with a 1.248 OPS and a .797 slugging percentage. He had 74 RBI, 19 doubles and a team-high 83 runs scored.
ESPN’s David Schoenfield after the 2024 MLB Draft that Moore could be the first draft pick to make it to the majors.
“The Angels love to take college players who appear close to the majors and Moore fits that mold,” Schoenfield wrote while analyzing the pick for ESPN.com, “becoming their sixth straight college selection in the first round. The last two of those — Zach Neto and NolanSchanuel — are already in the majors, so if Moore follows their path, he could be one of the first players from this draft to reach MLB.
“He’s limited to second base because of his arm, but his contact rate should allow him to move quickly through the minors.”