Christian Moore crushes first professional home run

Less than three weeks after being selected by the Los Angeles Angels with the eighth overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft, Christian Moore hit the first home run of his professional career .

Moore, batting second for Single-A Inland Empire in Thursday’s road tilt against the Modesto Nuts, went yard in the fourth inning off of RHP German Fajardo . Moore’s solo shot went a reported 438 feet at 108 mph off the bat.

The 21-year-old went 4-for-6 with three RBIs in the 11-1 victory, in what was just his second professional game. The Angels decided they’ve seen enough from Moore in those two games, calling him up Friday to Double-A Rocket City. He slashed .545/.583/1.091 in 11 at-bats with 2 doubles and a home run with the 66ers. Moore is already on a fast track to the big leagues but in the meantime, he’ll slot into the middle of the order for the Trash Pandas.

Christian Moore already making an impact in Angels’ organization

The Angels made Moore a first-round selection following three standout seasons at Tennessee. In 186 games for the Volunteers, Moore slashed .338/.447/.698 with 61 home runs and 160 RBIs. Moore swiped 22 bags and walked 115 times while tallying 154 strikeouts.

Moore saved his best for his final season in Knoxville, hitting 34 home runs, to go along with 74 RBIs. He helped lead Tennessee to its first Men’s College World Series title.

“The one thing I want to say about being around him is, as a position player to impact the game, it’s difficult,” Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello said on the MLB Network broadcast after Moore was drafted. “You need strikes from the pitcher. You may hit a ball hard at somebody. I’ve never been around a guy who can decide he wants to win a game and impact it the way he did. In order to win the SEC this year, you were going to have to beat Kentucky, a great club. We were one to one going into game three against them, and he literally took over the game.

“The other thing I’ll say in uniform, it’s very obvious how physical he is. Cognitively, he is off the charts. Ian Kinsler , Max Scherzer are really the only two guys I’ve been around that have the same kind of cognitive ability that C-Mo has.”

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