How soon could Mike Moustakas rejoin the Kansas City Royals?
I know this has been said before, but the combination of third baseman Mike Moustakas and first baseman Eric Hosmer were to be part of a new era in Royals baseball that would “save the day” for the Royal faithful. As of yet, that hasn’t materialized as many had thought or even hoped.
On the 22nd of this month, the Kansas City Royals optioned Moustakas to Omaha of the Pacific Coast League. At the time of the transaction, Moustakas owned a rather paltry slashline of .152/.223/.320 with 4 HR and 17 RBI. He had struckout 26 times in 139 plate appearances (18.7%) and walked 12 (8.6%, which is above his career average of 6.4%).
According to the following tweet from Andy McCullough, Moose has been doing well for the Storm Chasers.
Mike Moustakas is hitting .355/.412/.548 in Omaha. He is eligible to be recalled tomorrow. I wouldn't be shocked to see him in St. Louis.
— Andy McCullough (@ByMcCullough) May 31, 2014
First things first. The slashline included in the tweet covers a period of eight games (34 plate appearances). You know what they’ll say: small sample size. Indeed, it is.
But I had to dig around a little more. And I found there’s a sign Moustakas might have found that lost stroke. Yes, this, too, is a small sample, but worth noting.
In his first four games after being optioned, Moose was hitting only .200 (3-for-15 in 17 PA). One of the hits was a home run. Now look at what he’s done in the current series against Oklahoma City: .500 (8-for-16 in 17 PA) with 4 of his 5 RBI in this series.
After today’s game in Toronto, the Royals will head to St. Louis for a pair in the intrastate rivalry. I would think that if the Royals were to bring Moustakas back to the parent club, we’ll hear something sooner rather than later.
So now, is it possible that Moustakas could join the team in St. Louis as McCullough suggests? Sure, it’s possible. But I think the better question might be this: Has Moustakas recovered the confidence he apparently lost?
Unless you have a positive answer to that, I don’t think you make the move. Plus with the way Toronto handled the Royals staff today, a Sunday night or Monday move might be made to add an arm, not Moose. That might have to wait another day.