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CHICAGO – As far as we talked about White Sox failed pursuit Bryce Harper and Manny Machado this past season, their decision to place a $ 43 million of betting on Eloy Jimenez even before having played a game at the highest level, and the seductive speed and advantage of the recuperator Michael Kopech, he could, to a large extent, still return to Yoan Moncada.
"This" would be the ongoing process of rebuilding the Sox and, according to some, more elaborate, that is, the future. It's too much to say that nothing in baseball relies on a single player, and Moncada is no exception. Nevertheless, if we forgot his importance to the short, medium and long term fortunes of the White Sox, Moncada reminded us in the 2019 home opener against the Mariners outbreaks on Friday (CHW 10, SEA 8).
Moncada was of course the centerpiece of the December 2016 blockbuster that sent Chris Sale to Boston. Kopech would return in the same contract and the next day, general manager Rick Hahn would send Adam Eaton to the national championships for Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez. The following winter, the Sox endorsed the Cuban phenomenon player Luis Robert – a major league scout at the Mariners-White Sox match, saying he preferred Robert to Jimenez – and that in July, they had landed in the Jose Quintana trade with Cub.
Given this frenzied influx of young talents, it's easy to lose sight of Moncada. However, he still has the most potential among these fundamental pieces. In early 2015, when the Red Sox were about to enter into an agreement with Moncada, one of the most coveted young free agents to leave Cuba for some time, they had less than $ 2 million in international budget space. Boston, however, so coveted Moncada that they granted him a bonus of $ 31.5 million. Since they have so far exceeded their allocated budget, they have paid a 100% penalty on the excess. It's a $ 60 million investment in a 19-year-old who had never played outside of Cuba Serie Nacional. Moncada continued to be among the top five prospects by consensus in 2016 and 2017 before the deal and his major league debut with the White Sox in early September 2016.
Moncada entered this campaign, his age of 24, with a career line at the MLB level of .234 / .319 / .399 in 211 games. This is not necessarily bad – a 97 OPS + is hardly shameful for a young infielder – but it's not as optimistic as Moncada's expected. It's still quite early in the 2019 season, but maybe Moncada is putting it in place.
Speaking of which, here's what he did in the first round on Thursday against Yusei Kikuchi:
It's a dubbed one that has little short of a grand slam, and it's been Moncada's sixth extra-basic success in as many games this season.
Now let's go to the half-seventh house. Again, it's Moncada with the basics loaded, but this time the White Sox are on a roll. The Seattle manager, Scott Servais, knowing that the Moncada, hitter switch, was less effective on the right side, goes to southpaw Zac Rosscup. Along the way, Moncada throws or fouls four broken balls until he gets a fast low ball that leaks a bit in the middle of the plate:
This is another shot for the third Chicago player. After the match, Moncada emphasized the importance of having his first full season behind him. "I'm in a much better place right now," he said after the contest. "And that's why I feel more comfortable in the field."
Speaking of which, here's what he's done in the first six games of the season:
Obviously, it is early enough and we all know that it is dangerous to draw noisy conclusions based on a small sample size. Moncada, however, does some things that make sense early enough. "My state of mind is just to have fun, you know, hit the ball hard and make a contact," Moncada said.
When it comes to having fun, you take it at your word. As for the last two goals, it does exactly that. First, he has been eliminated only in 13% of his matches this season, after 33.4% in 2018. And no, he does not sacrifice hard contact in favor of any contact whatsoever. In fact, its current average speed of 96.1 mph is in the top five percent of the league at the moment, and it has also increased its launch angle.
"He had some really good battles," teammate Jon Jay said on Thursday about Moncada. "We see him working and hitting keystrokes, and that's the name of the game." He's doing a very good job of controlling the area right now, he does not run after the shots. "
In the same vein, Moncada has reduced its swing rate on lands outside the zone while increasing its swing rate on lands in the catch zone. He also increased his contact rate on all terrains, strikes or not. Elements of this type, which suggest shifts in approach and skill growth, are beginning to matter, even in an otherwise small sample. He is a skilled hitter who learns what terrain he can manage and learns to exploit. He seems to have also done despite a change of position and having already held three different sports in the stick order in 2019. All of this is very auspicious for the future.
The future is of course a word that matters a lot to the White Sox, and although we have not started the program 2019, it seems already more brilliant. This is due to the impressive work of Moncada to date.
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