The Los Angeles Angles decided to place its first round pick Christian Moore in High-A to begin his professional career earlier this week. It took just two games for the Angels to realize they had made a mistake.
After two dominant performances, the Angels promoted Christian Moore to Double-A Rocket City (Huntsville) on Friday morning.
In his two games with High-A Inland Empire, Moore hit six-for-11 with a double, triple, home run and six total RBIs. Moore hit his first professional home run on Thursday night, a 438 foot shot that was 108 MPH off the bat,
Christian Moore DEMOLISHES his first pro homer for @66ersBaseball!
The @Angels‘ 2024 first-rounder (No. 8 overall) wallops a Single-A roundtripper a reported 438 ft at 108 mph off the bat 💥 pic.twitter.com/fkzaYshrYD
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) August 2, 2024
Now with the Rocket City Trash Pandas, Moore is playing in the Southern League which would afford Tennessee fans the opportunity to watch the Vol great play in person. The Trash Pandas play at Chattanooga from Aug. 13 to Aug. 18 and then again to close the regular season from Sept. 10 to Sept. 15. Rocket City has one more meeting with the Tennessee Smokies this season but the series is in Huntsville.
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If Moore’s stint in Single-A is any indication, he may not spend a ton of time with the Trash Pandas. The Angels are also uncompetitive this season making it possible that they could call Moore up to the big league team during the September call ups.
Moore turned in the best single season at the plate in Tennessee history during the Vols’ 2024 National Championship season. Hitting in the leadoff spot, Moore hitt .375 with 34 home runs, 55 extra-base hits and 74 RBIs.
Tennessee’s previous single season home run record was 24 and Moore way out paced it in his junior season. Moore’s 61 home runs over the course of his three-year college career make him the Vols’ career home run record holder.