BALTIMORE — Christian Moore’s first full professional season has already been educational. The Angels’ 2024 first-round draft pick got off to a rough start in Double-A, and then gradually began picking up his performance , including a torrid start to his time in Triple-A. As he prepared for his major league debut after 79 minor-league games, Moore said he’s learned from the failure early in the season. “I think when you play this game every day, you figure out what type of player you are, figure out what type of person you are,” Moore said before hitting ninth in his major league debut against the Baltimore Orioles on Friday night. “That was really good for me, and I definitely needed that, that struggle, per se. And I think I came out of it a little bit. I found myself a little bit, found what I what I love to do. And it was awesome.” Moore hit .234 in Double-A, including .158 with a 33% strikeout rate in his first 17 games. He hit .350 in 20 games at Triple-A. Angels manager Ron Washington said the reports he’s heard are that Moore has a better two-strike approach at the plate. His strikeout rate dipped to 25%, which is still too high, after his 17-game start. “He’s not bent on trying to hit the ball out of the ballpark,” Washington said. “He’s trying to go gap-to-gap, which he said he did in college.” Washington said Moore seems to be solid on defense at second base. Mostly, Washington is not concerned that any big league struggles will derail his development. “His head is on right,” Washington said. “So now he’s just got to go out there and put his thoughts into action.” Matthew Lugo was optioned to Triple-A to create a spot for Moore on the active roster. Washington said he’s planning to start Moore in all three games this weekend in Baltimore and at least three of the four games against the Yankees in New York, which is Moore’s hometown. Moore, 22, joined the Angels about 11 months after he was the No. 8 overall pick in the draft, out of the University of Tennessee. He is the latest in a line of Angels’ top draft picks to shoot quickly through the minors. Under General Manager Perry Minasian, the Angels have promoted eight players to the majors by the end of the season following their selection in the draft, most notably Zach Neto and Nolan Schanuel . Moore was promoted to the majors at the same time as right-hander Sam Bachman, who had been injured for most of the two years since his previous major league game. The Angels now have all four of the players taken in the first round under Minasian on their active roster. Bachman was the 2021 first-rounder , followed by Neto in 2022 , Schanuel in 2023 and Moore in 2024. Previous first-round picks Mike Trout (2009) , Taylor Ward (2015) , Jo Adell (2017) and Reid Detmers (2020) give the Angels a rare confluence of eight homegrown first-round picks on the active roster at the same time.
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