Mickey Moniak hits first career grand slam vs. Athletics

ANAHEIM — It hasn’t exactly been the season that Mickey Moniak had been hoping for after his breakout performance last year.

But Moniak is starting to heat up offensively, and the outfielder kept it going with his first career grand slam to help lift the Angels to a 7-5 win over the A’s on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium. Moniak went 1-for-2 with a walk, four RBIs and two runs scored and is slashing .294/.385/.647 with two homers, four doubles and 10 RBIs over his last 11 games, going back to June 13.

“I’m just trying to remain consistent and the last 10 or 11 games or so, it’s kind of showing a little bit with more extra-base hits,” said Moniak, who had never hit a grand slam in pro ball and received the ball as a souvenir.

“But it’s not the focus for me. The focus is just trying to make solid contact, the quality of at-bats and swinging at the right pitches. If I can accomplish those things, I feel like it’ll kind of take care of itself.”

Moniak, though, hasn’t had the same kind of consistent production he had last year in his first full season with the club, when he batted .280/.307/.495 with 14 homers, 21 doubles and 45 RBIs in 85 games. This year, he’s hit .197/.250/.317 with four homers, eight doubles and 21 RBIs in 62 games.

Moniak has been forced into everyday action in center field with superstar Mike Trout out since April 29 with a torn meniscus in his left knee. And while his offense hasn’t been up to expectations, manager Ron Washington has constantly pointed out that Moniak hasn’t allowed that to affect his defense, as he still rates as an above-average defender in center field and made a sliding catch to rob Lawrence Butler of a potential critical hit in center in the eighth.

“For pretty much the whole year, the one consistent bright spot has been the defense,” Moniak said. “Even when things weren’t going well, the whole focus was if I’m not getting hits, I might as well take them away.”

Moniak started to show signs of getting out of his funk in San Francisco last week, when he went 4-for-9 with a homer, two doubles and a triple in a two-game span from June 14-15. He’s continued to build on that, punctuating this strong stretch with his game-changing grand slam on Tuesday.

“He’s been putting in a lot of work,” Washington said. “He’s trying to find that consistency. But that big blow was huge tonight. We really needed it.”

The Angels had found themselves in a 2-0 hole in the fourth inning, as lefty Tyler Anderson uncharacteristically struggled with his command in a two-run third. But Logan O’Hoppe got the Angels on the board with an RBI single and Zach Neto was hit by a pitch to load the bases with nobody out.

Moniak made the most of his opportunity, drilling an 0-1 curveball from right-hander Mitch Spence over the right-field wall to give the Angels a three-run lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

“That was awesome, especially after they scored a couple there,” Anderson said. “That was not a good inning. So to have Mick come through there was awesome.”

It was a good sign from Moniak, who has improved his walk rate and cut down on his strikeout rate from last year, but hasn’t yet displayed the same kind of power.

But Moniak now has seven extra-base hits over his last 10 games and is starting to display the kind of pop that he showed throughout the 2023 campaign. Washington has stressed that power is just a small part of Moniak’s game, but it’s clear he’s at his best when he can hit for extra-bases to go along with his plus speed and solid defense.

Moniak said he hasn’t altered his mechanics much in recent weeks outside of slightly widening his stance, but credited a change in approach and mentality.

“Just trying to simplify things,” Moniak said. “Baseball is a weird game with its ebbs and flows. The goal is to stay as consistent as possible. Just kind of trying to get back to that. Try not to get too high, not try not to get too low. Just try to trust in my talents and the coaches. Mostly, it’s just been a mindset of going into every game and trying to have fun.”