I’ll See Your Moustakas and Raise You a Vitters

High school players Mike Moustakas and Josh Vitters, a pair of future Major League third basemen, were selected second and third overall in the 2007 amateur draft by the Kansas City Royals and Chicago Cubs, respectively. Both players struggled out of the gate when they began their pro careers but have turned things around as of late. Their current statistics look like this:

Moustakas  .265/.329/.470  400  20  34-69 (Full season ball)
Vitters    .325/.359/.515  169   9   9-34 (Short season ball)

Moustakas spent 11 games in Rookie Ball in 2007 and hit .293/.383/.439 with four doubles. He then struggled at the beginning of 2008 when he was assigned to full-season ball. Moustakas batted .190/.253/.226 in April with just one extra base hit (a homer). His best month came in July when he batted .303/.376/.487 with five doubles and three homers in 76 at-bats. He also walked nine times and struck out in just 13 at-bats. His 20 homers come in the Midwest League, which is notorious for negatively affecting home run power. Moustakas leads the league in homers with one more than Clinton’s Jonathan Greene. The 19-year-old left-handed batter has been almost as good against southpaws as right-handers: .250/.317/.478 versus .269/.332/.468. Defensively he has split time between shortstop and third base and projects better at the hot corner.

Like Moustakas, Vitters began the 2008 season in the full-season Midwest League but he started slowly and his strength was sapped by injuries. When he finally got healthy, the Cubs demoted Vitters, 18, to Short Season Boise. Vitters is now hitting .335/.371/.523 with four homers in 155 at-bats. The step back is disappointing but he’s still very young and will get another shot at the Midwest League next season. The right-handed batter has had a lot of fun against left-handed pitching this year with a line of .417/.432/.639, compared to .311/.354/.487 against right-handers. Vitters appears to put a little too much pressure on himself with runners in scoring position as he is hitting just .222 in those situations.

It’s going to take some time but Vitters remains the Cubs’ third baseman of the future. The same can be said for Moustakas, who is more advanced than Vitters both offensively and defensively. However, he faces a roadblock by the name of Alex Gordon. Watching the two careers unfold is going to be a lot of fun. Who do you think will be the better player long term?