Mike Moustakas

Mike Moustakas
Moustakas during his tenure with the Wilmington Blue Rocks, High-A affiliates of the Kansas City Royals, in 2009.
Kansas City Royals — No. 8
Third Base
Born: September 11, 1988 (1988-09-11) (age 23) Chatsworth, California
Bats: Left	Throws: Right
MLB debut
June 10, 2011 for the Kansas City Royals
Career statistics (through 2011)
Batting average	.263
Home runs	5
Runs batted in	30
Teams
Kansas City Royals (2011–present)

Michael Christopher Moustakas (born September 11, 1988 in Chatsworth, California) is an American professional baseball third baseman for the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball.^[1] He was drafted second overall in the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft.^[2]

Early life

Mike Moustakas attended Chatsworth High School in Chatsworth, California. He is the nephew of former New York Mets hitting coach Tom Robson.

Moustakas was a four-year starter in baseball for Chatsworth High School. During that time he helped Chatsworth to a 124-11 record including four West Valley League championships, and two CIF city titles. His 52 career home runs in high school are a California prep state record.^[3]

Professional career

Moustakas was drafted by the Kansas City Royals with the second overall pick of the 2007 amateur draft. He signed with the team on August 15, 2007, receiving a reported signing bonus of $4 million.^[4] Fellow Chatsworth teammate Matt Dominguez was chosen by the Florida Marlins with the 12th overall pick of the amateur draft.

Entering 2009, Moustakas was widely regarded as one of the top baseball prospects in all of minor league baseball. The Sporting News ranked Moustakas as the 13th best prospect overall,^[5] while MLB.com listed Moustakas as their 11th best prospect in all of baseball.^[6] Moustakas, however, had trouble adjusting to the Carolina League in 2009. While his power remained, his ability to hit for a high average went down significantly. In 2010, Moustakas' power and average increased significantly. As of July 13, 2010, Moustakas was hitting .352 with 21 homers and 76 runs batted in in AA Northwest Arkansas. On July 15, 2010, he was promoted to Triple-A Omaha.^[7] On August 30, 2010, Moustakas was named the 2010 Texas League Player of the Year and on the same night, he set an Omaha Royals record with three home runs and 11 RBIs in one game.^[8] Moustakas won the Joe Bauman Home Run Award for most home runs in minor league baseball, winning a tiebreaker with Mark Trumbo.^[9]

Moustakas had his contract purchased on June 9, 2011.^[10] He made his debut the following night against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, going 1-3 with a walk and a run scored. His first major league hit came in his third plate appearance against Ervin Santana, where he would eventually score in the 4-2 win.^[11]

References

1. ^ "MLB.com Draft Report for Mike Moustakas". Minorleaguebaseball.com. http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/events/draft_report/y2007/index.jsp?mc=moustakas. Retrieved 2010-08-31. 
2. ^ "2007 MLB.com Draft Tracker". Mlb.mlb.com. http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/draft/y2007/drafttracker.jsp. Retrieved 2010-08-31. 
3. ^ "Moustakas Bio and Stats". Wilmington.bluerocks.milb.com. http://wilmington.bluerocks.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?n=Mike%20Moustakas&pos=&sid=t426&t=p_pbp&pid=519058. Retrieved 2010-08-31. 
4. ^ "Royals sign No. 2 overall pick 11 minutes before deadline". ESPN. Associated Press. 2007-08-16. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=mlb&id=2976787. Retrieved 2007-12-22. 
5. ^ "Prospects: Rankings: Top 100 Prospects: Top 100 Prospects: 1-20". BaseballAmerica.com. 2009-02-24. http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/rankings/top-100-prospects/2009/267698.html. Retrieved 2010-08-31. 
6. ^ "Top Prospects | MLB.com: Minors". Mlb.mlb.com. http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/minorleagues/prospects/y2009/. Retrieved 2010-08-31. 
7. ^ By Samuel Zuba / MLB.com. "Moustakas promoted to Triple-A Omaha | MLB.com: News". Mlb.mlb.com. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100714&content_id=12249458&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb. Retrieved 2010-08-31. 
8. ^ Moustakas Hits 3 HR, Drives In 11 In 23-5 Rout
9. ^ http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100910&content_id=14498240&vkey=pr_milb&fext=.jsp
10. ^ Pouliot, Matthew. "Royals call up former No. 2 overall pick Mike Moustakas". NBC Sports. http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/06/09/royals-call-up-former-no-2-overall-pick-mike-moustakas/. Retrieved 9 June 2011. 
11. ^ Kaegel, Dick (2011-06-11). "Royals win in Moustakas' Major League debut". MLB.com. http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2011_06_10_kcamlb_anamlb_1&mode=box. Retrieved 2011-06-11. 

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• USA Today First-Team Baseball
• Lousiville Slugger All-Americans 2007
• Lousiville Slugger All-Americans 2006
• Louisville Slugger All-Americans 2005
• Baseball America High School Player of the Year: Mike Moustakas
• Chatsworth High School: Mike Moustakas
• Scouting report
• Baseball America Top 100 Prospects
• Top MLB Minor League Prospects
• Moustakas Bio and Stats

Persondata
Name	Moustakas, Mike
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	September 11, 1988
Place of birth	Chatsworth, California
Date of death
Place of death