KC Royals Fantasy Heroes: Mike Moustakas Is A New Hitter

The KC Royals won their third straight game Tuesday night, defeating the Twin 6-5 in a comeback victory capped by Mike Moustakas‘ game winning RBI to shallow left field.

Moustakas had a big night that included a two-run home run in the 6th inning along with his opposite-single that won the game in the bottom of the 8th.

The Kansas City Royals now stand 11-3 on the season, and continue to show up the pre-season prognosticators who considered them no better than a .500 club.

MIKE MOUSTAKAS

Mike Moustakas continues to show that he’s a different hitter in 2015. He turned on a fastball and pulled it into the right field seats for his third home run of the season in the 5th inning. He then followed up with a game-winning RBI single hit to the opposite field against lefty reliever Glen Perkins.

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The hit against Perkins shows how much Mike Moustakas has grown in his craft. Moustakas served an 0-2 pitch into shallow left field. Rather than try to do too much, Mike Moustakas got the single that the team needed to score the go-ahead run from third base.

Now that Mike Moustakas has shown he can take outside pitches the opposite way with power, he has become a much more dangerous hitter. The Angels and A’s abandoned the shift against him and played him straight up.

However, not everyone agrees that Moustakas’ early season results signal a long-term change in his profile. Fangraphs.com’s Brad Johnson quoted “swing expert” Dan Farnsworth with respect to Mike Moustakas’ swing in a recent article:

"Moustakas’ issue has been that his hands and shoulders all turn as a unit and rotate toward the ball, cutting off the amount of time his bat is in the way of the pitch’s path. He looked like he tried to improve that last year by getting his back elbow working before his hands started, but he was still moving the hands and shoulders together rather than getting that rollback look with the back arm like the best hitters. Even on his better hits this year, it still looks the same, and often he’s down through contact rather than on a slight upward path with the pitch. I think he’s just hitting the right part of the ball in the early going, but I don’t expect much different results without a big change in approach or mechanics."

I do not agree. Even if his swing mechanics could still have room for improvement, Mike Moustakas’ changed approach that allows him to spray the ball around the field should yield significantly better results than the recent past.

Mike Moustakas may never realize his perceived potential as a prospect, but he can still be a good everyday player if he continues to hit the ball where it’s pitched rather than try to pull everything.

AT THE PLATE

The Twins kept the KC Royals bats mostly asleep through the first five innings of the game. In the 5th, Mike Moustakas put the Royals ahead 3-1 with a two-run home run. But, Jason Vargas gave up four runs in the next half-inning. Yet, the Kansas City Royals pulled off another late rally to win 6-5.

Mike Moustakas was the big dog going 3 for 5 with 2 singles, 1 home run (3), 1 run scored, and 3 RBIs (5).

The only other KC Royals player with two hits was Christian Colon, who went 2 for 4 with 1 single, 1 double, 1 run scored, and 2 RBI (2). Colon drove in the game-tying run with a ground out to first base in the 8th inning.

Alex Gordon hit his first home run of the season off lefty Tommy Milone in the 2nd inning. Gordon finished 1 for 4 with the home run, 1 run scored, and 1 RBI (5).

Paulo Orlando‘s speed yet again played a big part in the game when he scored from first to home on Christian Colon’s double in the 7th to cut the Minnesota lead to 5-4.

ON THE MOUND

Jason Vargas pitched well through five innings, but hit a wall in the 6th. Vargas went 5.2 innings, allowing 8 hits, 1 walk, and 5 runs with 4 strikeouts. Vargas got a no-decision in the inning despite allowing 4 runs in the 6th inning.

Jason Frasor entered in the 6th with two runners on base. Frasor allowed both to score on a pair of singles before he retired the Twins to escape the inning.

Chris Young entered in the 7th and logged two clean innings of relief work. Young went 2.0 innings, allowing 0 hits, 0 runs, with 1 strikeout.

Wade Davis racked up his 3rd save in place of Greg Holland in the night.

UP NEXT

The KC Royals and Twins finish their three game series Wednesday night. Jeremy Guthrie (1-0, 5.54 ERA) will pitch for the Kansas City Royals, against Mike Pelfrey (0-0, 4.50 ERA) for Minnesota. Game time is April 22, 7:10 PM CST at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

Next: KC Royals Opponents Can't Stop Talking

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