White Sox: 3 Players That Are Starting to Live Up to Their Potentials
Yoan Moncada
Moncada’s arrival to the White Sox after the 2016 season marked the start of their current rebuild. He was acquired along with Michael Kopech and Luis Alexander Basabe in exchange for Chris Sale. Moncada was once ranked as the top overall prospect in MLB.
In 2017, he would make his White Sox debut in July of that year to a standing ovation at Guaranteed Rate Field. Although he finished that season with a .231 batting average, he would struggle mightily in his first full season in MLB in 2018.
Through 149 games played, Moncada ended 2018 with a .235/.315/.400 slash line, 17 home runs, 61 RBIs and 217 strikeouts at the plate. He would become the subject of many White Sox fans scorn after his poor performance last season. However, many fans overlooked the fact that Moncada was still a young player.
Perhaps, a position change for Moncada is what he needed. Just before the White Sox failed to sign a certain free agent, they began to transition Moncada over to playing third base during Spring Training. This transition appears to have paid off to start this season as Moncada has a .321/.361/.628 slash line through 19 games with six home runs, 18 RBIs and a .989 OPS.
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For Moncada, his success to start this season is a welcome sight for many White Sox fans. There were some fans who made the assertion that Moncada was a bust after his 2018 season. However, those same fans are unlikely to admit they were wrong. Moncada is starting to live up to his potential and that’s only going to continue to be good for the White Sox and their current rebuild.