Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas reflects on journey from bust to hero

The cameras came in waves, forming a semicircle in the corner of the Royals clubhouse on Saturday evening. Somewhere lost behind the mass of bodies and video equipment was Mike Moustakas, his arms folded, the eye black still fresh on his face.

Moustakas had just hit his fourth homer of the postseason in the Royals’ 6-4 victory over Baltimore in game two of the American League Championship Series, and now the crowd had gathered in front of Moustakas once more.

“I feel good,” Moustakas said.

Nearly five months ago, Moustakas was in this same posture, standing in front of television cameras in Omaha, Neb. It was late May, and Moustakas had been demoted to Class AAA Omaha. He was batting just .152 in his fourth season in Kansas City. He looked, at that moment, like a broken prospect.

And now this.

A postseason terror. A rejuvenated prospect. The Royals standing just two victories short of the World Series after taking a 2-0 lead in the ALCS. This latest homer was a solo bomb off Orioles starter Bud Norris in the fourth inning, a moon shot that nearly bounced onto Eutaw Street beyond the right field wall. It was also history.

Moustakas joined former Royals first baseman Willie Mays Aikens as just the second Royals player to homer four times in one postseason. Aikens hit four homers in the 1980 World Series.

“I’m just getting good pitches to hit right now,” Moustakas said, “and I’m not missing them.”

This is what the Royals envisioned when they drafted Moustakas with the second overall pick in the 2007 draft. They saw a potential corner infielder with power and intangibles, the kind that could help a team win a championship. Perhaps they didn’t envision the struggles, or the scuffles during the last two seasons. But in a season that saw him demoted to Omaha, Moustakas appears unfazed by the moment, hardened by the failures of the past.

“Everything I went through this year led me to this point,” Moustakas said. “And I couldn’t ask for a better way to go about it.”

Case in point: In the ninth inning Saturday, after Moustakas had already launched his fourth homer of the postseason, he came up with a runner on first base and nobody out. The score was 4-4. Royals manager Ned Yost asked him to bunt against Orioles left-handed closer Zach Britton.

“Britton is really, really tough on lefties,” Yost said.

Moustakas put the bunt down, advancing pinch runner Terrance Gore to second. Shortstop Alcides Escobar followed with a go-ahead RBI double.

“Skip told me to get a bunt down, and I was able to get a pitch I could handle and just dropped it down,” Moustakas said, “And it ended up working out really well for us.”

Across the Royals clubhouse, Eric Hosmer stood near his locker. After playing with Moustakas for the better part of four major-league seasons, he can tell when his friend is locked in. The good Moose takes more pitches and says no breaking balls. The good Moose battles and spoils the bad pitches.

So far this postseason, it’s been all good Moose.

“The way he’s recognizing pitches early,” Hosmer said. “He’s shutting down on breaking balls early. And he’s getting good pitches, and he’s not missing them.”

This story was originally published October 11, 2014 at 10:59 PM with the headline "Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas reflects on journey from bust to hero."