Yoan Moncada Belts First Two Home Runs With White Sox
By Rob Hill
White Sox top prospect hits first two home runs of Spring Training. The second baseman went deep against the Kansas City Royals.
Fans on the Southside got a glimpse of what the future holds as Chicago White Sox number one prospect Yoan Moncada hit his first two home runs of Spring Training on Wednesday in a 7-3 spring training win over the Kansas City Royals.
Moncada, 21, is arguably the face of the White Sox future going forward. He was acquired back in December for former Sox ace Chris Sale. The highly regarded Cuban prospect showed off one of his five tool talents Wednesday : his power.
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With a runner on third base and one out on Wednesday in the bottom of the fifth inning, Moncada was surely looking to just put the ball in play to score the runner from third. Putting the ball in play has been a challenge for Moncada this spring. In just 30 at bats entering Wednesday’s game, Moncada had struck out a whopping 13 times (around 43 percent of the time).
He did more than just put the ball in play as he clobbered a 3-2 fastball from newly acquired Royals starter Jason Hammel over the right field bullpen. The game was now tied at 2-2. Moncada wasn’t done just yet. He led off the bottom of the 7th inning with the Sox now leading 5-2. Facing former all star flamethrower Kelvin Herrera, Moncada obliterated a first pitch 98 MPH fastball into the left center field reservation giving the Sox a four run lead which was enough to secure the win.
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The win brought the Sox to 11-8 on the spring and more importantly added confidence to Moncada who had been struggling leading up to Wednesday’s game. Moncada was hitting just .200 on the spring with 6 RBI’s. Although it is highly unlikely Moncada will break camp with the Sox, it is a treat for fans and the White Sox front office to see what this young phenom is capable of.
The Sox also received key contributions on Wednesday from Avisail Garcia who hit his third homer of the spring, and Reynaldo Lopez who got the start to go 4.2 innings while allowing two earned runs.
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It really is hard to fathom the abilities that Moncada possesses. All White Sox fans have been anxious to see what he could do on a baseball diamond since the team acquired him back in December. Through the first two weeks of games there was not too much to be impressed about. Now after Wednesday’s performance, Moncada is starting to give White Sox fans a sign of a very bright future.