Infielder Mike Moustakas has told reporters, including Danielle Allentuck of The Denver Gazette, that the Rockies have informed him that he’s made the club’s Opening Day roster. Moustakas, 34, signed with the Rockies after being released by the Reds earlier this offseason. As Moustakas is still owed $22MM of his four-year, $64MM contract with the Reds, the Rockies will only pay Moustakas the big-league minimum salary of $720,000 this season.
In addition, the Rockies are set to select the contract of left-hander Ty Blach, sources tell MLBTR’s Steve Adams. Allentuck adds that infielder Harold Castro will also be on Colorado’s Opening Day roster, and that Brendan Rodgers, Sean Bouchard, and Ryan Rolison were moved to the 60-day IL to clear 40-man roster space for Moustakas, Blach, and Castro.
Over twelve seasons as a big leaguer, Moustakas has proven to be a roughly league-average bat with a career slash line of .247/.308/.434 (97 wRC+). That being said, he was an above average regular from 2015 to 2020, as he slashed .262/.326/.490 with a wRC+ of 113 in 661 games for the Royals, Brewers, and Reds. The past two seasons have been difficult for Moustakas, however. In 140 games between 2021 and 2022, Moustakas has struck out in 24.6% of plate appearances, a significant leap from his career 16.8% rate. Between that strikeout rate and a dip in slugging (his .145 ISO from 2021-2022 is a step back from his career level of .187), it’s no surprise that the aging slugger struggled to a wRC+ of just 73 the past two seasons.
Despite his struggles, the Rockies decided to take a chance on Moustakas following Rodgers’s shoulder injury this spring, which will likely cause him to miss the 2023 campaign. Moustakas figures to be the everyday third baseman for the Rockies, with Ryan McMahon sliding over to second to cover for the injured Rodgers.
With top prospect Ezequiel Tovar entrenched at shortstop, Castro appears set to play for the Rockies in a utility role this season. Such a role is familiar to Castro, who has played every position on the diamond except catcher during his career. Since debuting with the Tigers in 2018, Castro has appeared in 351 games, slashing .284/.309/.377 for a wRC+ of 88, just below the league average of 100. Despite that mediocre slash line, Castro still provides a versatile lefty bat off the bench for the Rockies.
Blach, meanwhile, figures to slot into a long relief role for the Rockies. With 370 2/3 career major league innings under his belt, Blach has a 5.10 ERA, good for an ERA+ of just 82, though his 4.35 FIP and a strand rate of just 55.4% in 71 1/3 innings since the start of the 2019 season indicate there may be bad luck baked into his run prevention numbers. With his first season following Tommy John surgery in 2020 under his belt, the 32 year-old Blach will look to bounceback into the swing role he held for the Giants from 2016 until 2019.
Hey he made the team
I am not surprised
I think he will have a good year
So are you saying he will go from being a worse than replacement level player the last 2 seasons all the way up to a 0 WAR?
How soon til the fake injury and seven German chocolate cake a day diet?
Why? He could sit home and collect his money if he wanted. He has something to prove if he wants to continue playing.
baseball team, always so salty?
The Moose is loose!!!
Hittin Harold! Good luck in the Mile High City!
It is good to be Mike Moustakas these days…getting paid BANK by another team and will get a shot at playing time to be flipped to a playoff squad….
Probably not how he envisioned it, but not a bad fallback position…
Good Luck in 2023 for Moose!
Moose manages a 1.4 WAR, all before the trading deadline, gets flipped for a prospect, then pulls his hammy his third game with his new year. Boras parleys the “Moose is Loose” (hey, this is a 2.8 WAR player” into a two year, $19 million deal with an opt-out after the first year.
Moose will not be the regular 3B. The team has already said that Eleheuris Montero will be the guy. Moose is gonna be a bench bat and fill in at 1B until CJ Cron is ready.
Nah, the Rockies traded Arenado for Montero to sit Montero on bench.
Where is Profar?
Left field, aka Why.
Who’s on First?
Visa problems..still in curacao
Where is Profar?.
Why is Profar?
What is Profar?
Moose is going to hit bombs at Coors. I wouldn’t be surprised if a 30 homer season for him.
The Moose may roam freely in the Rockies, but the likelihood of him hitting thirty home runs in the rest of his career is not too great.
No Rockies player has hit 30 homers since 2019. It would be VERY surprising if anyone did it, let alone Moose who will probably not get more than 300 PAs this year.
This is not the Blake Street Bombers era. I don’t get why people just assume the Rockies always have home run hitters. The offense is very weak right now.
It’s not just that, the Blake Street Bombers were comprised of several castoffs from other orgs, the big difference is the humidor, which wasn’t used back then. Still a huge park that will give up tons of doubles, but let’s not act like Dante Bichette and Ellis Burks were stars.
CJ Cron could hit 30 if he’s healthy—he hit 29 last year. But your overall point is right on. Coors Field has not been a big home run park for a number of years.
Prolly the humidors killed the Rocks’ offense… but it looks like their opponents continue to smack the living crap outta Colorado’s pitchers! Lmao
Okay I haven’t verified that!
When it comes to HRs, GAB is much more hitter friendly for HR. baseballsavant.mlb.com/leaderboard/statcast-park-f…
Moose has not been able to be on pace for more than 20 HR a season there.
baseball-reference.com/players/m/moustmi01.shtml
Going to be a rough year in Colorado. Might even be their first 100 loss season. I feel for Rockies fans.
They are tourist visiting a beautiful venue in downtown Denver during the summer. They don’t care who wins
Im assuming Kris Bryant is already planning his DL stint mid April to Aug?
You know, it’s permissible—if not preferable—to start your sentence with ‘meanwhile” instead of throwing it in the center and interrupting its flow.