Yoan Moncada didn't have a hit on Tuesday. He did, however, draw two walks and came around to score one time. It wasn't this game-breaking performance but he was good enough to contribute to the win.
Moncada takes a lot of heat. He is clearly someone who has failed to become the player that he was projected to be. When he was the number one prospect in all of baseball, he looked like someone that would be a superstar.
He started to live up to it a bit in 2019 but then fell off after COVID-19 happened. As of right now, however, he has been a pretty good player in 2023. He doesn't have to be a superstar anymore. An above-average player would be great.
Yoan Moncada has only played in 27 games this year. He missed a fair amount of time with an injury but he has been good when he is on the field. That applies to both the White Sox and Team Cuba in the World Baseball Classic.
Yoan Moncada has actually been decent to start the White Sox season.
With the White Sox, he has a slash line of .253/,334/.424 for an OPS of .758. He has hit two home runs and has 12 RBIs on the season in 107 plate appearances (99 at-bats).
This is not superstar stuff by any means. However, it is good for being the fifth or sixth-best hitter in the lineup. If they can finally just be okay with that from Moncada, they could end up handling him the right way.
As everyone knows by now, he is also an elite defensive third baseman. The hot corner is not an easy position to field at a high level and Moncada is capable of doing that. He may or may not ever win a Gold Glove but he is in the upper tier for sure.
The fact that the White Sox stink is partially Moncada's fault because the rebuild depended on him becoming a superstar. He is not a superstar but he is capable of being a solid player. Again, if the White Sox front office can handle that the right way, they can keep him around.