Angels Give Christian Moore A Day To Work On Adjustments – Orange County Register

ANAHEIM — A day after Christian Moore snapped his 0-for-21 slump, he was not in the lineup. He wasn’t off, though.

Manager Kurt Suzuki said the Angels second baseman was having “a work day” to spend time locking in the adjustments he’s making with the Angels hitting coaches. Moore will return to the lineup on Sunday, Suzuki said.

“I thought C-Mo had a great game last night,” Suzuki said. “I know he struck out that one time, but I thought the quality of the swings… He had that nice base hit against a tough righty to center field. I know he’s working on a lot of things. There’s a lot of pressure. He wants to do really good. Sometimes you need to take a little step back.”

Moore, 23, is hitting .165 with a .459 OPS in 118 plate appearances this season. The Angels’ first-round pick in 2024, Moore has succeeded at the highest level of the minors, but it hasn’t translated yet to the majors.

He’s struck out in 33% of his plate appearances this season.

“It’s consistency with your bat path,” Suzuki said. “At the end of the day, our focus is controlling the strike zone. I know that’s kind of been our focus recently. We want that to be a big focus, controlling the strike zone. I think C-Mo understands when you struggle a bit here, it’s because you’re expanding the zone. I think he understands now if he can control the zone, with his swing and all that stuff, it’ll be better.”

MO BETTER

Moisés Ballesteros, 22, has settled into a nice hot streak in September. He hit .163 with a .410 OPS in his first 24 games after the Angels acquired him from the Chicago Cubs in the Ryan Zeferjahn deal, but since Sept. 1 he’s hit .357 with a 1.003 OPS.

“Anytime you get traded, it’s always an uneasy feeling,” Suzuki said. “Even if you played against people, you’re in a new clubhouse, new coaches, new teammates, all those types of things. There’s always a transition period. I think with Mo, with his personality and the way he interacts with people, he’s a catcher so he’s got a lot of respect from the pitchers already in a short time. All that stuff. He fits right in. He’s an easy person to talk to. Easy to get along with. He’s been great.”

Suzuki said one of the differences has been his discipline at the plate. Ballesteros has cut his chase rate on offspeed pitches and breaking pitches in September.

“When you come to a new team, get a little anxious,” Suzuki said. “You want to do everything. You want to do good so much that you put too much pressure on yourself. I think now he’s settling in and we’re seeing the guy that we all believe he can be.”

CLASS DONE

Right-hander George Klassen, who is on the injured list because of a back injury, had hoped to pitch again this year, but Suzuki said that’s not going to happen. Klassen threw bullpen sessions on Tuesday and Friday and felt good, but Suzuki said there is “no need to rush him,” so he won’t pitch in a game.

Klassen, 24, finishes his rookie season with a 3.67 ERA in six major league starts. Klassen struggled in two April starts, but he had a 2.01 ERA in four starts after he was promoted from Triple-A in August.

“The adjustment he made when he came up the second time, we saw the results,” Suzuki said. “He relied heavily on his slider, but he was in the zone a lot more consistently. I thought he was outstanding, really.”

HONORED

Angels players voted for Mike Trout as the Angels MVP and Walbert Ureña as the Nick Adenhart Pitcher of the Year. Ureña is the first rookie pitcher to win the award. Trout has won the team’s MVP award 10 times.