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Kansas City Royals prospect Mike Moustakas will join the big league roster on Friday, for the first stop on a nine-game road trip. The 22-year-old will be the Royals' everyday third baseman, nudging Wilson Betemit to a reserve role. Mike Aviles has been optioned to Omaha. (Tough to argue with the demotion, since Aviles is scuffling along at .217/.261/.398 for the year, and he's 2-for-21 in June. Chris Getz, you're presumably no longer part of an infielder pileup. Go do something useful).
Moustakas was hitting .287/.347/.498 with 10 homers at Triple-A this season, and he's been a monster in recent weeks. Moose got off to a rough start, batting just .229 with a .714 OPS in April, but he went nuts when the calendar flipped to May: .321 average, 11 doubles, five homers, .942 OPS. He hasn't necessarily mastered left-handed pitching just yet (.260 AVG, 19 Ks in 73 at-bats), but that's hardly a deal-breaker for fantasy owners. This kid hit 36 homers and 41 doubles across two levels last year. He can help, and he'll play a talent-scarce position. Make the add.
Embrace the Moose, people.
(Sorry, I could not find a picture where he doesn't look like some sort of low-level, independent circuit wrestler. But I'll keep looking).
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Photo via Getty Images