WEST SACRAMENTO — The Angels are trying to find the right balance with Christian Moore.
Moore, their top position player prospect, was on the bench again on Saturday, as he has been for five of the last seven games. Before that, he started five in a row.
Both Luis Rengifo are Yoán Moncada are performing better than Moore. But those two players are free agents at the end of the season, while Moore figures to be a part of the Angels’ long-term lineup.
“He’s going to get the lion’s share of this thing between now and 2030, for sure,” interim manager Ray Montgomery said.
Montgomery’s big picture perspective notwithstanding, it’s reasonable to ask why Moore isn’t playing every day right now.
“I don’t want to sacrifice his development any more than I want to limit what Yo and Luis can do at the same time,” Montgomery said. “I don’t know the answer to that entirely, other than to say I agree that if (Moore) sits too long, it can be detrimental. We don’t want to do that. We’re managing through that.”
Montgomery has been asked about Moore just about every day that he has not put him in the lineup over the past week. Moore didn’t start any of the three games against the Dodgers earlier this week, which could at least partly be explained by the Dodgers having four lefties in the bullpen. Moncada can’t hit from the right side, so as soon as a lefty came in from the bullpen, Moore replaced Moncada. Moore came off the bench in all three games, getting five plate appearances.
Moore is likely to start on Sunday, making two of three starts in this series, because the A’s are starting a left-hander.
Montgomery’s oft-repeated point over the past week has been that Moore is still playing enough to gain some experience, and also that he’s engaged enough on the bench to be learning from that too.
“If we’re talking about a two-week period, we’re talking about 30-40, at-bats,” Montgomery said. “In the grand scheme of things, if you’re only measuring it on actual playing time versus the long term, what he learns from watching, pinch hitting, coming in on defense, whatever it is, it’s nothing but gain for him. He’s going to play. I’m not worried about that.”
Moore, 22, who was drafted in the first round just 13 months ago, said he is “100 percent” confident that he’s still benefiting from being around even when he’s not playing.
“Watching guys and picking their brains and understanding certain situations, kind of slowing the game down,” Moore said. “Obviously, when you’re playing every day, it’s hard to slow the game down or see certain things.”
Moore is hitting .185 with a .648 OPS. (Rengifo has a .643 OPS, including an .800 OPS since June 13. Moncada has a .779 OPS.) Moore’s 13% walk rate is above average, a good sign that he’s remaining disciplined and seeing the ball well. His 30% strikeout rate is too high, though.
Moore was first promoted on June 13, and he showed improvement until he suffered a sprained left wrist on July 2. He’s been back since Aug. 3.
“Before the injury, I was real comfortable,” Moore said. “Now, just getting back out there and just getting back to my routine. Doing everything I was doing before the injury. Obviously, it’s a hard lease. You just try fight and scrap and grind through ABs. Do whatever you can do to flip the lineup over. That’s what I’m trying to do.”
NO WORRIES
Mike Trout was in a 2-for-13 slump with eight walks and seven strikeouts in the five games prior to Saturday.
When Montgomery was asked specifically about Trout taking too many pitches, he expressed no concern with his approach.
“Mike’s fine,” Montgomery said. “Mike knows what he needs to work on, and obviously he goes in and out of feeling good, just like anybody else. I’m not going to complain about a .400 on-base for him, walking at a high clip. Sure, there’s going to be times where he swings more and misses more and there’s going to be times when he swings less and hits balls out of the park. I think it’s just part of the game. When you accumulate as much as he’s accumulated, it takes time.”
Trout is sitting on 398 career homers.
UP NEXT
Angels (RHP José Soriano, 8-9, 3.84) at Athletics (LHP Jeffrey Springs, 10-8, 4.06), Sunday, 1:05 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network West, 830 AM