Opening Day is just less than two weeks away, and the Los Angeles Angels' position battle at second base appears to be narrowing down.
On Saturday morning, the Angels announced they are optioning second baseman Christian Moore and utility man Kyren Paris to Triple-A Salt Lake.
Both, just under 25 years old, are expected to be part of the future for the Angels as Moore (24) was selected with the 8th overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft and Paris (23) was taken in the second round in 2019.
Moore is expected to be the second baseman of the future, but he appears to need more time.
This spring, Moore has struggled at the plate, hitting .175 with a .483 OPS, 1 home run, 3 RBIs, and 11 strikeouts.
Last year, he appeared in 53 games for the Angels and struggled at the plate, hitting .198, with a .654 OPS, and 62 strikeouts.
At times, he showed flashes of being the star player the Angels expect him to be.
Before he was drafted by the Angels, Moore was fresh off a memorable College Baseball season where he broke the Tennessee single-season record for home runs (34) and was a key part of winning the College Baseball World Series.
Paris was originally drafted as a second baseman and has quietly adjusted his future role for the team as he started to become a utility man, spending time playing out in center field and playing third base during the Winter League over the offseason.
While Moore has struggled at camp this year, Paris is coming off another promising spring training after being the talk of camp last year.
After adjusting his batting stance, almost identical to reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge, Paris hit .400 with a 1.116 OPS, 2 home runs, and 13 RBIs.
This spring, Paris' average (.333) and OPS (.975) have been almost just as good, but the scoring production has not, with 3 RBIs and 0 home runs.
Last season, Paris' production during spring training earned him a spot on the opening day roster.
Paris started the season as one of the hottest hitters in baseball, hitting .400 with a 1.402 OPS with 5 home runs and 8 RBIs up to April 12th.
But pitchers started to adjust, and Paris was sent back down to the minors on May 26th, hitting .110 with 1 home run, 3 RBIs, and 10 hits after his hot start. He was recalled back up to the MLB roster on June 24th, but did not play and was sent back to the minors for the rest of the season.
With the Angels optioning Moore and Paris back down to the minors, to buy them time to develop, they will now have to make a choice soon between Vaughn Grissom and Oswald Peraza as their starting second baseman when they take on the Houston Astros on Opening Day.
