White Sox: Yoan Moncada Named International League Batter of the Week
White Sox top prospect named IL Player of the Week for Triple-A Charlotte Knights. The 21-year-old infielder hit two home runs over first week of May.
Chicago White Sox top prospect Yoan Moncada was named International League Batter of the Week on Monday. The honor comes for games played from May 1-7. Moncada hit .500 with two doubles, two home runs, four RBI’s and five walks.
Moncada, the top overall prospect in the minors according to mlbpipeline.com has been impressive over the past month for the Triple-A Charlotte Knights. In the Knights series clinching victory over the Gwinnett Braves on Sunday, Moncada went 3-for-4 with a home run. Moncada’s slash line on the season is .352/.427./.565 with six home runs and 11 RBI’s.
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The Sox are in no rush to promote Moncada, but he might force his way to get called up if he continues to have success with Charlotte. When he was with the Red Sox organization last season, he was called up in September but didn’t have success with Boston.
However, the Red Sox had Moncada skip Triple-A after a successful stint in Double-A in 2016. This season, the Sox have given Moncada time to hone his craft and adjust to pitchers in Triple-A.
Moncada would certainly help the Sox fill a void in their offense if he was promoted. The issue remains however with Moncada’s strikeout rate. So far, Moncada has a 30.5 percent strikeout rate this season. He has been striking out less for the Knights over the past week as he had just three strikeouts at the plate for the Knights from May 1-7.
Last season, Moncada had 12 strikeouts in 19 at-bats for the Red Sox. The Sox would certainly need for Moncada to decrease his strikeouts if he is going to be successful in Chicago.
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Whenever Moncada is called up, he will most likely assume the starting job at second base. If he can translate his early success from Charlotte to Chicago, the Sox could very well have another solid young player in its lineup.