The shoes that have to be filled at third base in Kansas City are rather large and may never be filled by any Kansas City Royal’s player ever. Right now Mike Moustakas, and his “Moooooooose” call seem to be filling that hole quite well. is definitely beginning to look like he could be a good following to the great third basemen of the Royal’s past, George Brett. Ever since Brett retired the team has been trying to fill a hole at third base that just would not fill up all the way. Many have tried and many have been good enough to be average to a little above average at best but none have shown the promise that Moustakas has shown this earlier in his career. All throughout his time in the organization people have known that he would hit and he would hit well but it is the little things that make him a potential All Star third basemen.
After going through his struggles at the Major League level, like he showed at every level when he was first promoted to that level, Moustakas have done nothing but improved every part of his game. Hitting was always at a premium for Moustakas at every level but every one always said that his defense would have to improve to become a great player at the big level. Over the off-season Moustakas worked tirelessly and continues to work tirelessly everyday to improve his defense which by all accounts this season has looked spectacular. When the Royals acquired shortstop Alcides Escobar from the Brewers in the Zack Greinke trade, a lot of fans and people in the organization thought he was brought in to help out the future left side of the infield since he is such a superb defender and Moustakas was just average. But now that the defense of Moustakas has improved, not only could the two end up being the best defensive tandem on the left side of the infield in the league but now that they are both seeming to find their stride at the plate it could end up being the best left side of the infield overall. Moustakas has seemed to improve not only in his accuracy of his throws but also in his range. Not being the quickest footed guy in the game he has to find ways to get the angle on balls hit to him so that he can make some of the plays that he has made this season. So now with the addition of his defense it seems that hitters will never want to hit the ball to the left side against the Royals.
No question that Moustakas struggled with the bat over the first part of his rookie season but as the season went on he stepped it up a ton and showed fans what they could be watching from him for a long time coming. The thing that everyone thought at the beginning of this season was that he would be the young star to hit his sophomore slump yet he is the one in talks of playing for the American League in the summer classic at Kauffman Stadium. With the struggles that Eric Hosmer has shown this season, the fact that Moustakas has stepped up to the plate and just raked and stepped into the three spot in the lineup that was supposed to be filled by Hosmer is one of the reasons that the team finds themselves right in the thick of things in the Central Division.
The Royals have seemed to found themselves a little bit as a team over the past month with a winning June. Moustakas must continue to play the way he has played this season for the Royals to have success. With the leadership of Billy Butler over the whole team, Moustakas has to step up as the leader of the young guys on this team. Kind of like the vice president. And the biggest thing that a leader can do is produce and so far this season the Moose has produces.
