Angels top prospect Moore volunteers up a homer in Tennessee homecoming

Baseball fans in Knoxville are used to seeing this.

Christian Moore got a hold of one for the Angels' Double-A affiliate in the former Tennessee Volunteers standout's return to the city Tuesday night.

MLB.com's No. 64 prospect homered for the first time this season for Rocket City in a 9-6 loss to Knoxville at Smokies Stadium. Moore went 3-for-5 in the contest, his second straight three-hit game.

Moore, the eighth overall pick in last year's Draft, expressed excitement about the homecoming prior to the trip.

“This is home to me,” he told the Knoxville News Sentinel before the game. “I lived here last offseason. This is home. So when I come back, I know where everything is. I know where to eat. I know how traffic is going to be. I know where everything is here. It is a blessing to be back.”

Moore capitalized on the warm welcome right away, sending a fourth-inning breaking ball off right-handed Cubs prospect Will Sanders into familiar orbit for a two-run homer. The “away” fans saluted his efforts with a roar of cheers.

That's because some of Moore's best baseball moments to date happened with the Vols. He won a national championship with Tennessee in 2024, the first title in the program's history.

The Angels' No. 1 prospect clubbed a Vols-record 34 homers last year, batting .375 with 111 hits and 74 RBIs. Los Angeles rewarded him with a $5 million signing bonus, and Moore hit .347 with six homers and 20 RBIs in his 25-game pro debut, all but two games with Rocket City.

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The 22-year-old and the Trash Pandas will be in town for five more games against the Cubs' Double-A affiliate.

“It is a beautiful thing to have more baseball in Knoxville and I am so grateful to be here,” Moore told the News Sentinel.