Atlanta Braves third option

On the other hand

Moustakas really doesn’t hit well in Kansas City. Last season every stat, traditional and advanced, showed Moose should play almost anywhere else.

His numbers since 2014 don’t show the same size gaps but they still reflect that he’s much better on the road.

Fangraphs shows Kaufman Stadium with a park factor for home runs of 92 for the last three seasons and 94 in 2014. The homer park factor for lefties was slightly but not significantly better in 2017; 93.

Meanwhile the Braves new home –STP – posted an overall park factor of 99 for homers and a more generous 104 for lefties.  Power shouldn’t be a problem there or in Philadelphia (108) or New York (99). Marlins Park was the second hardest place in baseball for a LHH to hit a homer last season and Nationals park came at eighth hardest.

Baseball Prospectus’ Tav adjusts for park and league quality and considers the situation, pitcher, pitch thrown.  Using that scale an average player hits .260, a great player .300 and a star .340. Last season for example, Freddie Freeman post a Tav  of .341, Tyler Flowers .309 and Ender Inciarte .270; Moustakas posted a .275.

Defensively, Moustakas’ UZR showed him to  be a better than average defender until his knee injury; after that it dropped sharply. DRS and Baseball Prospectus’ FRAA reflect the same drop off.

He started play last year  just nine months after his ACL repair. Whether he’ll regain movement and improve defensively is unknown but at 29 years old there’s a good chance he will.