The Chicago White Sox sent a lot of very talented players to the 2023 World Baseball Classic. There were some amazing talents spread out over multiple different countries. For the most part, they all played very well too whcih was really nice for fans to see before the MLB season starts.
Tim Anderson, Lance Lynn, and Kendall Graveman rode all the way to the World Baseball Classic Championship with Team USA. On Tuesday night, they were defeated in the final game by Team Japan in a game that was incredibly entertaining. This tournament had it all.
Once that was over and the dust settles, the announcement of the All-Tournament team came out. There was one White Sox player that made it and it is a name that might surprise you. Yoan Moncada was named as the best third-baseman in the tournament.
He struggled badly in his first two games of group play but he bounced back in a big way to lead Team Cuba to the semi-finals (they were defeated by Team USA). For the entire tournament, he hit .435 with four doubles, one home run, 5 RBIs, four runs scored, and a 1.258 OPS. Truly elite numbers.
Yoán Moncada made the WBC All-Tournament team pic.twitter.com/dPBk2kN1dP
— James Fegan (@JRFegan) March 22, 2023
The White Sox have to be proud of Yoan Moncada for his performance.
Moncada was named with some other very good players like Salvador Perez of Veneszuela, Mike Trout of USA, and Shohei Ohtani of Japan amongst others. The list is loaded with superstars and Hall of Famers. Hopefully, this gives him the confidence that he needs coming into 2023.
Moncada has had a rough go of it in a White Sox uniform. He was elite in 2019 and above average in 2021 but borderline bad in the other years of his career. The White Sox aren't looking for him to be a superstar anymore. They just need him to be a solid baseball player at third base.
Playing well in this tournament is not easy and he was amongst the best at a very difficult position (3B). Hopefully, he got what he needed out of this tournament so he can be both healthy and productive for the Chicago White Sox during the 2023 season.