Every Royals first-round draft pick since 2000: Mike Moustakas (2007)
With the second overall pick in the 2007 MLB Draft, the KC Royals drafted Mike Moustakas out of Chatsworth High School in Los Angeles. Moose didn’t get called up until the 2011 season and it took him a while to get the hang of things at the plate.
The one thing Moustakas was consistently good at was crushing home runs. He smashed 20 long balls during his second season in 2012 despite only batting .242 that season.
In 2014, Moustakas really sunk low. His batting average for the season was only .212 and at one point, he was actually demoted to the minor leagues. Moustakas spent less than a week in Omaha, as Danny Valencia (the team’s other third baseman) was traded shortly after the move happened.
Moose never really got the hang of it during that regular season, but he had some pretty clutch home runs during the postseason. Those homers are going to go down as some of the best moments in Kansas City Royals history.
In 2015, Moustakas had the best season of his career by far. He slashed .284/.348/.470 with 22 home runs in a season that ended with the Royals hoisting the Commissioner’s Trophy. That was Moose’s first All-Star appearance and he definitely deserved to make it that year.
The following season saw Moustakas’ season get cut short due to an injury that saw him miss the rest of the year. He came back strong in 2017, belting 38 home runs and finally surpassing Steve Balboni for the most home runs in a single season.
It’s no surprise that Moustakas also made the All-Star Game again in 2017 and he also got to partake in the Home Run Derby. He was the first Royal to do so since 1991.
Moustakas didn’t get the buzz many thought he would in free agency prior to the 2018 season and ended up re-signing with the Royals. He was traded to Milwaukee midseason where he made it all the way to Game 7 of the NLCS. As of this writing, he’s a member of the Cincinnati Reds.