The Chicago White Sox are one of the worst teams in all of MLB. One of the reasons that they are bad is the play of the players that they expected to be great. Almost none of them have reached their potential.
The leader of that pack is Yoan Moncada. Since coming over in the trade that sent Chris Sale to the Boston Red Sox, Moncada has had a lot of ups and downs.
He was the number one prospect in all of baseball which set expectations very high. A lot of people thought that he would be the complete player that a championship team is built around.
Unfortunately, that hasn’t really happened for him. He was very good in 2019 and solid in 2021 but that is about where it ends for Moncada. He was never truly elite for multiple years in a row like we expected he’d be.
The Chicago White Sox needed more from Yoan Moncada in his career.
There is no doubt that he is paid like a superstar but he doesn’t play like one. It is unfortunate because his potential was through the roof when he was first coming up.
As a second baseman, he was very mediocre defensively. However, the White Sox switched him to third base when they weren’t signing Manny Machado and he became an elite defender. However, it is his bat that kept him from being a good player.
The thing is, Yoan Moncada has been very good for the White Sox over the last month or so. Since August 19th, he has a slash line of .333/.367/.538 with an OPS of .905. He has four home runs, 16 RBIs, and 13 runs scored.
Those numbers are truly incredible. They reflect what we thought Yoan Moncada would be when he was first acquired back in 2016. Unfortunately, it is hard to see it lasting for very long.
To the surprise of no White Sox fan, the team is 9-17 in this span of games that Moncada has been dominating. It is a shame that things have gotten this bad but it is what it is.
The reality of the situation is that Moncada is likely going to play for the White Sox in 2024. We have to hope that this is the version of him that we see during that season. If he is healthy, it may be possible even if unlikely.