Spring Training is a time of individual exploration. It's a time for teams to evaluate the condition of their roster and also the development of certain players and various placements. It's also a time to experiment as well as think new possibilities of what a group can resemble for the new season. Such is the instance for the Colorado Rockies even more than ever throughout the previous week. After Brendan Rodgers endured an injury that intimidates the entirety of his 2023 period, the Mountain ranges swiftly rotated to the logical move of moving Ryan McMahon over to 2nd base and allowing youngsters Elehuris Montero as well as Nolan Jones to take over the mass of time at 3rd base. Both have tremendous capacity in their bats but additionally come with their very own follies in their baseball makeup. Yet, with a team not forecasted to be challengers in 2023, there is no better time to let them play and see what they can do over the course of a complete Big league season. Rather, the Rockies made the complicated step of signing three-time All-Star Mike Moustakas to a Minors offer. Like several others, I don't necessarily recognize or agree with the action, however, my function today is to try and study Moustakas's stats and understand what the Mountain ranges are really hoping for with the action and also if he really can be a property to the 2023 Mountain ranges. Face Worth: BatOn the surface level, Moustakas is not an appealing item currently. At 34 years old, he is well gotten rid of from his All-Star year in 2019 with the Milwaukee Brewers. In that final season with the Makers, Moustakas batted.254/.329/.516 with 35 crowning achievement, 87 RBI, and a 114 OPS+ in 143 video games. After signing a four-year take care of Cincinnati Reds in 2020, Moustakas's manufacturing rapidly took a nose dive over the next 3 seasons. From 2020-2022, Moustakas played in just 184 video games, many thanks to lower body and also foot injuries as well as the reduced 2020 season. In those 3 years, he batted just.216/.300/.383 with 21 crowning achievement, 74 RBI, as well as an 80 OPS+. While Moustakas went far for himself as a slugging 3rd baseman with the Kansas City Royals from 2011-2018, it had not been enough to stop the Reds from releasing him in January of this year and consuming the $22 million salary he is owed. He definitely has a track record of success in his prime, however however, Moustakas is no longer in his prime and therefore the Rockies can't rely on him rebounding to a 2019 type of manufacturing. I will give him the benefit of the question in regards to injuries really restricting him the previous pair of years. Long-sustained injuries make it very tough to obtain any type of momentum, as well as injuries to the reduced half area sap any type of sort of power he had in his bat. If he ultimately really feels healthy once again in his back as well as legs, after that he has already taken a substantial progression in any hopes of some type of rebound which's something to watch on in Springtime Training.Face Worth: DefenseSo, we have some kind of hunch of what his bat might offer at face value, yet what of his defense? Despite Jon Heyman at first saying that Moustakas would play 2nd base, a placement he has actually only played 80 games at Design Your Own Jersey, Thomas Harding validated with Moustakas that this was purely a corner infielder and also marked player kind of offer. Sadly, on the surface, the handwear cover isn't as fantastic as you would certainly desire it to be after years of Nolan Arenado and also Ryan McMahon. In 9, 379 innings at third base, Moustakas has actually a. 960 fielding portion with -18 Defensive Runs Saved and a 10.9 Ultimate Area Ranking. Given that 2016, Moustakas's array has diminished year by year. While the arm is still excellent, over the program of his career he has an Outs Above Average of -7 at 3rd base. He's most likely greater than efficient in playing the setting still and also would give Ezequiel Tovar a little bit extra chance to showcase his range at shortstop, however his defense still has some inquiries. Likely, he is much better fit as an initial baseman at this point in his career a placement that would certainly have less put on and tear on his body. Deeper Dive and also What's Ailing MooseAt face value, Moustakas looks like nothing even more than an expert deepness piece that made use of to have a dangerous bat and can play serviceable protection. However what's been ailing him the previous couple of years as well as what else can he use? Checking out his statistics, one number that stands out is his occupation 16.8% strikeout rate. Prior to 2020, Moustakas never ever had a period K% over 20%, yet that has been a constant over the past three years. A lot more intriguing is that with his occupation.247 AVG as well as 203 house runs, you would certainly anticipate Moustakas to start out way greater than he does. In truth, in 12 periods he has started out 100 times simply two times, passing the mark in 2012 (124) and once again in 2018 (103 ). His walk price is world-shattering at just 7.2% for his occupation, yet that means that something with Moustakas's approach is not based upon a "go big or go home" kind of swing.In the Statcast period dating back to 2015, Moustakas is a fascinating situation. In terms of his hitting prowess, Moustakas has a 7.7% barrel price, 37% hard-hit rate, an average exit rate of 88.8 mph, an ordinary launch angle of 17.6 degrees, and his wOBA coming in at.318. Considering his batted rounds there isn't a glaring trouble either. Moustakas has actually balanced a groundball price of 36.4%, coming under that mark in both 2021 and 2022. Moustakas posted a career-high 50% fly sphere rate in 2022, well over his profession 44.8% rate, yet he did hit fewer line drives in 2022 at 15%. We can't precisely criticize infield changes either, as he has normally hit better with a change than without one. According to Statscast information available, Moustakas has actually usually published a greater wOBA year-to-year dating back to 2016 when there is a shift.