The Chicago White Sox are a team with a lot of talent that just hasn’t been able to put it all together. There are several reasons for this. Clubhouse issues, issues with the manager, and health issues are all to blame for the Sox unraveling in 2023.
Now, fans have not been promised a winner in 2024 but this team has the potential to surprise a lot of people and win more games than the prognosticators think they will.
When it comes to health, you have to look at one of the most injury-plagued players on the roster, third baseman Yoan Moncada. Moncada, a highly touted prospect when he first joined the White Sox, has been somewhat of a failure and a disappointment.
He’s not been able to stay healthy and thus hasn’t been able to perform up to his lofty status. This has caused the White Sox to kind of “fall behind” at third base as they are constantly hoping for good things to come out of Moncada, but they never come.
And third-base prospects go passing by.
The Chicago White Sox have some guys in spring training to push Moncada. One of those is Mike Moustakas. There are a couple of things that Moustakas brings and that’s veteran leadership plus a great deal of experience. If he sticks on the roster, it’s possible he could continue to push Moncada to the point if Moncada suffers another injury, which is highly likely, Moustakas might take over for him. It could be permanent too.
It's vital that Moncada play at least 120 games this season.
And not just play but play at a high level. He needs to have a “revival” of sorts and play much better than he has in the past. If he can do that, and the rest of the team can play better, this Sox team just might surprise a few people this season.
I know that I am rooting for Moncada to do well. I know that I will be crossing my fingers in hopes that he has a resurgence, stays healthy, and contributes a lot to a team that’s going to need all the contributors it can get. If I had to guess, I would say that Moncada will stay healthy and will end up being one of the top players on the team. I think he will prove his value and become a true asset.
If he should falter, Moncada will probably be on his way out of Chicago at the end of the season. The experiment with him will be over and the White Sox will have to look somewhere else for help at third base. As I talked about earlier in the article, some guys are waiting in the wings should Moncada falter. Moustakas is someone that the Sox could go to should they lose Moncada for any period.
Let’s just hope that it doesn’t come to that. We will hope that Moncada finally becomes the player we all hoped that he would be and hope that he will help make the White Sox a winner.