He did it again: Christian Moore hits home run in first game after promotion to Double A

Christian Moore needed only two games in Minor League Baseball to hit his first professional home run and get promoted from Single A to Double A. He only needed one Double A game to hit his next home run.

Moore, batting second for the Rocket City Trash Pandas Saturday night, hit a solo home run in the sixth inning of a 13-4 loss to the Biloxi Shuckers. He finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI.

He homered for the Inland Empire 66ers, the club’s Low-A affiliate in the California League, on Thursday to earn the promotion to the Trash Pandas, the Double A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels in the Southern League.

Moore, the No. 8 overall pick in the MLB Draft last month, led Tennessee Baseball to its first national championship after setting single-season program records with 34 home runs, 55 extra-base hits and 236 total bases as a junior last season.

He hit .375 with a 1.248 OPS and a .797 slugging percentage. He had 74 RBI, 19 doubles and a team-high 83 runs scored.

Christian Moore ‘fits the mold’ of recent pro-ready Angels draft picks

ESPN’s David Schoenfield after the MLB Draft predicted that Moore could be one of the first draftees to reach Major League Baseball , considering the Angels’ history of drafting the most MLB-ready players and advancing them quickly through the minors.

“The Angels love to take college players who appear close to the majors and Moore fits that mold,” Schoenfield wrote while analyzing the pick for ESPN.com , “becoming their sixth straight college selection in the first round. The last two of those — Zach Neto and Nolan Schanuel — are already in the majors, so if Moore follows their path, he could be one of the first players from this draft to reach MLB.

“He’s limited to second base because of his arm, but his contact rate should allow him to move quickly through the minors.”

Moore signed his first professional contract for $4,997,500. He was the highest draft pick for a Tennessee player since Nick Senzel went No. 2 overall in 2016.

Eight Tennessee players selected in 2024 MLB Draft

Eight Tennessee players in total were selected in the MLB Draft. Blake Burke went at No. 34 overall in the first round to the Milwaukee Brewers, ahead of Billy Amick (Minnesota Twins) and Dylan Dreiling (Texas Rangers) in the second round, Drew Beam (Kansas City Royals) in the third round and Kavares Tears (San Diego Padres) in the fourth round. AJ Causey (Kansas City Royals) was selected in the fifth round and Aaron Combs (Chicago White Sox) went in the eighth round.

Moore finished his three-year Tennessee career with 61 home runs, 160 RBI, a .338 batting average, a .697 slugging percentage and a .447 on-base percentage. His 34 home runs came in 72 games during his junior season. He hit 17 in 63 games as a sophomore in 2023 and hit 10 in 51 games as a freshman in 2022.

“Moore showed off his well-rounded game by becoming the second player in MCWS history to hit for the cycle during Tennessee’s first game in Omaha,” ESPN continued, “

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