VFL Christian Moore hasn’t taken an at-bat with the Los Angeles Angels quite yet, but the former Vol is already stepping up to the challenge of taking on a former Cy Young winner.
Trevor Bauer, a controversial ex-MLB pitcher, has been out of Major League Baseball since 2021 following alleged assault cases while he was with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Bauer has since spent time with Nippon Professional Baseball and the Mexican League but has also grown and operated a YouTube channel that is closing in on a million subscribers.
Bauer’s most recent guest to the cage for a video? None other than former Tennessee superstar Christian Moore.
While some may be turned off by Bauer’s presence in the video due to the allegations and investigations, it’s refreshing to see another look at Moore and his personality before his professional career really begins. The video is almost reminiscent of some extra workouts at Tennessee with players going one-on-one at the plate and on the mound with a few extra characters bantering on in the background.
The system in the video awards each side points per at-bat with the pitcher receiving points for strikeouts and the batter receiving points for putting the ball in play.
Bauer, a former All-Star, Cy Young winner, and First Team All-MLB selection, is no slouch despite his time away from the big leagues. Moore learned that early and often as Bauer took the advantage with a number of breaking off-speed pitches.
After two “at-bats”, Moore was down early with two Ks. But Bauer wasn’t going to underestimate the previous No. 8 overall draft pick in the 2024 MLB Draft.
“He hit 30 homers (at Tennessee),” Bauer said to the onlooking crew. “He can end this in an instant… I’ve got to build a little bit of a lead here. Two at-bats in, I’m four (points) up. But, like, that’s not that many against a guy with power like this.”
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With the duel looking out of reach for Moore, the former Vol delivered. Moore crushed a towering home run to left center to add a slew of points to his total.
That’s when everything changed.
Bauer had been running his mouth while getting the best of Moore for the majority of the battle, but Moore turned up his intensity after gaining some confidence with the home run. The former Vol began to chirp back, get inside the pitcher’s head, and even bent the rules before his final at-bat in order to get an advantage for himself.
As one YouTuber commenter said, “Dude went from silent and peaceful to Sims after one nuke.”
“You can tell when Christian started getting more confidence and more swagger because he started talking a little trash and looked like he was having fun,” another user wrote in the comments.
Moore confirmed that after the battle: “I had to settle down. I was a little amped up at the beginning.”
While we won’t spoil just how it happened, Moore executed the comeback to take the victory over the former Cy Young winner in one-on-one action.
While the battle was entertaining YouTube content from the cage, it does also show Moore’s maturity and ability when facing great pitching. Moore set the world on fire during Tennessee’s national championship run last season and projects to be one of MLB’s next impact players on the rise.
Check out the full 23-minute video below:
