Chicago White Sox: Three takeaways from first exhibition game

It has been a cold and long offseason in the city of Chicago. It was nice to have the Chicago White Sox back in action to kick off the exhibition season vs the Milwaukee Brewers. It was an NBC Sports Chicago telecast so fans were able to check it out for themselves on TV. It was a lot of fun to see some of the names in the lineup.

It certainly wasn’t a full lineup for either side but there were some notable names on the field. There is a lot of work to do but there were some great things that the White Sox had on display in this game. These are the three biggest takeaways from the game:

1. Yoan Moncada is set to have a nice bounceback for the Chicago White Sox.

The Chicago White Sox desperately needs Yoan Moncada to have a bounceback season. He had COVID-19 right before they returned from the pause last year and it clearly affected him all season long. He recovered enough to not be dangerous for those around him and good enough to play but he certainly was fatigued a lot easier and didn’t have his usual strength and conditioning.

In this first Spring Training game, he did something that he didn’t do all last season. He didn’t make a single attempt to steal a base in 2020 which is weird based on the speed we know he has. Well, in this game he stole second base successfully the very first time he was on base. It was good to see that and he didn’t even look a little winded after the play was over.

There should be no doubt that he is going to get back to being one of the best players on the team once again. It is nice to see him off to a healthy-looking start in his first spring training game. He has the talent, speed, and smarts to be a 30/30 guy. The 2020 White Sox were so good without virtually any offense from Moncada so think about that group if he gets to his normal productivity level.