The Emergence of Mike Moustakas

by adschofield on Aug 5, 2008 11:59 PM EDT

After a horrific month of April and average performances in May and June, it appears the Moose has become the prospect will all thought he was. Tonight, he continued to mash MWL pitching going 2-4 2 HR's and 4 RBI's...Over the last 3 games, he has 5 HR's, but what's more impressive is this line for his Post All-Star Break numbers:

.333/.404/.586/.990 with 11 HR's, 27 RBI's and a 22:16 K:BB

Not only did he improve every statistical category, he is showing some nice plate discipline. Discuss

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Moose

hope he can keep it up for the rest of the season and end on a high note. I wish they would move him to the outfield though.

by gordonrules on Aug 6, 2008 12:35 AM EDT 0 recs

nah

He will probably force Gordon to the OF.

Now raise your goblet of rock. It's a toast to those who rock!

by Dewey Finn on Aug 6, 2008 12:53 AM EDT up 0 recs

Whoa...

Hold on… Gordon’s supposed to be the face of the new Royals… why exactly will this force him to the OF?

by demondeaconsbaseball on Aug 6, 2008 1:13 AM EDT up 0 recs

if gordon plays the OF better than Moose...

then it would make sense. It seems like gordo is more athletic…so it’d make sense to move him to one of the corners

TPJ...you're dead to me

by billybeingbilly on Aug 6, 2008 1:35 AM EDT up 0 recs

It won't.

Gordon’s an above average defender at third…he isn’t moving unless Moose emerges as an absolute stud defender.

Rowdy Hardy Fan Club member.

by doublestix on Aug 6, 2008 2:13 AM EDT up 0 recs

he's 8th out of 11 in rzr this year...10th out of 11 in out of zone outs...

he’s not exactly great over there…cost the royals big tonite

TPJ...you're dead to me

by billybeingbilly on Aug 6, 2008 3:17 AM EDT up 0 recs

And I've never been big on defensive stats...

Which is why I never talk about them when they come up at RR…

I love stats but I just don’t think there is anything dependable to measure for defense.

Rowdy Hardy Fan Club member.

by doublestix on Aug 6, 2008 3:34 AM EDT up 0 recs

i dont think any of them are the end all be all...

but i think if you look at them together…and they all show the same thing…im pretty confident that it’s true.

even looking with just your eyes, i dont see how you could call Gordo a plus defender

TPJ...you're dead to me

by billybeingbilly on Aug 6, 2008 6:48 AM EDT up 0 recs

Defense

He’s got the physical talent. I think in a few years he’ll develop into an above average defensive player. Time will tell.

by Lunkwill Fook on Aug 6, 2008 9:15 AM EDT up 0 recs

he's got the talent to do that...

but one cannot assume that he’s going to learn to field ground balls consistently

TPJ...you're dead to me

by billybeingbilly on Aug 6, 2008 7:15 PM EDT up 0 recs

I cant remember who said it

I think it was Goldstein… but Moose could certainly end up at 2B… which would waste his arm a bit, but he’s already a bit stiff for shortstop. I could definitely see him as a 2B.

by alskor on Aug 6, 2008 4:43 AM EDT up 0 recs

Perhaps

But he also has a HELL of an arm which would be a waste at 2b. I like 3b for based on what Ive heard of his skills.

by casejud on Aug 7, 2008 2:49 AM EDT up 0 recs

Other way around

IMO. Moose’s bat will carry better in the OF.

by number_twentyone on Aug 6, 2008 8:03 AM EDT up 0 recs

Yep

Moose has an “80” arm too…perfect for RF.

Rowdy Hardy Fan Club member.

by doublestix on Aug 6, 2008 10:27 AM EDT up 0 recs

Could he play CF?

by demondeaconsbaseball on Aug 6, 2008 12:41 PM EDT up 0 recs

Probably not

He’s too slow.

Rowdy Hardy Fan Club member.

by doublestix on Aug 6, 2008 5:41 PM EDT up 0 recs

Why?

Don’t OF’s hit more than IF’s? That would make his BAT better in the IF, wouldn’t it? His defense is under question but I think he’d be a pretty solid hitter at any IF position…perhaps even 1b. Yes, I think he’ll hit that much. His bat will play anywhere IMO.

by casejud on Aug 7, 2008 2:51 AM EDT up 0 recs

07

Best bat from that draft,
i’ve been saying it for a while.

by god allah star on Aug 6, 2008 1:07 AM EDT 0 recs

be quit...

hush you!

by hybrid on Aug 6, 2008 1:38 AM EDT up 0 recs

Jason Heyward

Heyward has the best bat from the 07 draft.

by atl14yearsschaffer on Aug 6, 2008 9:38 AM EDT up 0 recs

We'll see Braves fan.

Rowdy Hardy Fan Club member.

by doublestix on Aug 6, 2008 10:28 AM EDT up 0 recs

Heyward has the best stats in about 2/3 of the first season

but Moose has the better bat and that was almost universally agreed upon by scouts. Moustakas has legit “light tower power” (I love that phrase).

by deezle on Aug 6, 2008 11:53 AM EDT up 0 recs

better than

Weiters? He was in the 07 draft iiirc.,

by Robinson Checo on Aug 6, 2008 12:05 PM EDT up 0 recs

Huh?

The comparison was between Heyward and Moustakas.

by deezle on Aug 6, 2008 12:13 PM EDT up 0 recs

No...

...it was of the entire draft class.

by casejud on Aug 7, 2008 2:52 AM EDT up 0 recs

Except

Logan Morrison is a better prospect.

I reject your reality and substitute my own.

by WayneCampbell08 on Aug 6, 2008 2:10 AM EDT 0 recs

Thanks for the input on Mike Moustakas

Rowdy Hardy Fan Club member.

by doublestix on Aug 6, 2008 2:12 AM EDT up 0 recs

LOL

by deezle on Aug 6, 2008 11:56 AM EDT up 0 recs

Moose

It’s great seeing prospects improve each month, that’s exactly what you want to see out of a young prospect. The Midwest League is a tough first stop for a young HS hitter from a warm weather state, but it appears the lights have finally turned on for the youngster.

Also, notice that his OBP has gone up every single month.

by deezle on Aug 6, 2008 11:56 AM EDT 0 recs

Age an issue for anyone?

First, I’m a Moose fan, although I’d like his bat more if he stayed in the middle of field somewhere. That being said, what he’s doing in the MWL is extremely impressive. But he does turn 20 next month, which is something that should be considered when evaluating Moose vs his peers.

ProspectTube.com

You Video. You Scout.

by ProspectTube.com on Aug 6, 2008 1:28 PM EDT 0 recs

Response

He’s a year out of high school. He’s in the Midwest League.

So yeah, it’s something to consider. It just doesn’t really make a difference when you add everything up, though.

by mrkupe on Aug 6, 2008 1:38 PM EDT up 0 recs

I agree, but...

If he were born in Boston for example, he’d be two years out of high school (unless he was kept back) with Sept 1st being the cut off day. I have no idea how this works in other areas of the country.

So yes, this is still his first year in pro ball, it’s the MWL, and he’s mashing, which all adds up to him being a fantastic prospect. But at the same time, if you’re someone who believes age is important in prospect status, it’s just something else to consider when evaluating Moose.

ProspectTube.com

You Video. You Scout.

by ProspectTube.com on Aug 6, 2008 4:13 PM EDT 0 recs

That can't be right

Moustakas was born on September 11, 1988. If September 1st is the cutoff, he’d still be one year out of HS because he was born after the cutoff (I’m assuming that’s what you mean or it wouldn’t make sense at all).

People get WAY too hung up on the age thing, when they should really be focusing on their developmental time. Moustakas may be older by a few months than other prospects, but he’s had the exact same developmental time, unless you count the extra months he had on them as a baby.

by deezle on Aug 6, 2008 4:34 PM EDT up 0 recs

You're right, my dates were off...

but I don’t understand what you mean by development time. Are you only counting “professional baseball” as development time? I assume a good percentage of site members here have played baseball at some level. From the age of 5 when most teeballers start through little league and high school it’s all about AGE, and it seems odd that you’d exclude that as development time. The fact is, Moose is older than most, if not all h.s. players that were drafted in the 2007 draft. That matters.

ProspectTube.com

You Video. You Scout.

by ProspectTube.com on Aug 7, 2008 1:27 PM EDT up 0 recs

Thought it was obvious

but I’ll try to explain again.

Since Moustakas has a September bday, he is considered older for his grade/class rather than younger like a guy such as Heyward, who has a summer bday. That said, they both still came from the same class – Moustakas doesn’t have an extra year of developmental time on him like he would have if he was a grade older. Up until this point, they both theoretically played HS ball and summer ball at the same time and at the same level; the only difference between the two in terms of development is that Moustakas was born a few months earlier.

I would take a different view if Moustakas graduated a year earlier than Heyward, was drafted out of HS in 2006, and was young for his class. While his age would not have changed, he would have had an extra year of development that Heyward did not have. Developmental time is what you should pay attention to, not simply date of birth.

by deezle on Aug 7, 2008 2:29 PM EDT up 0 recs

not disagreeing with you

but age isn’t a bad proxy, since it works for both developmental time and physical maturity.

admittedly, age may be a weakly correlated proxy within the range of 1 year for phsyical development (as compared to a scout or doctor examining the player), so developmental time alone might be the better thing to look at (since it’s a better proxy than age for what the more important category may be). at the same time, it’s imperfect even at this measure, too: how do you measure, for instance, a player who didn’t start playing baseball until junior year of high school or something? it’s inappropriate to use their graduating class as the proxy, but it’s not really accurate to say they’re as advanced as, say, a little leaguer who’s only played baseball for two years (kind of obvious).

anyway, i guess my only point is that there are other factors involved that i’d want to know (physical developmental and actual years playing baseball), so completely dismissing one of these factors doesn’t seem fair. at the same time, i’m not saying you’re not using the most accurate singular measure in the majority of cases.

by bleedjaxblue on Aug 7, 2008 2:40 PM EDT up 0 recs