Yoan Moncada is joining former teammate Tim Anderson in Los Angeles this year which is absolutely WILD if you followed any bit of the Chicago White Sox over the last couple years.
Moncada was/is(??) one of the most naturally talented players in the world. At one time people thought he’d be like Robinson Cano but hit for 40+ homers, which is a huge reason why he was MLB’s #1 prospect. And for a minute there, he looked to be a perennial MVP candidate.
But then COVID and injuries and mass exposure to Northwest Indiana stripclubs all happened around the same time and his career started to fall apart. It’s easiest just to look at the pictures. Red is good, blue is bad.
Please scroll
That’ one of the saddest scrolls you can make on a player’s statcast page. And the most bizarre thing is that he’s still has all the God given talent to be a very good player. He just needs to be healthy and motivated and give a shit about winning and losing like the 2023 WBC when he hit .425/.519/.739 for Cuba. If you get that Moncada then I you get a lot of red on the graphic, and the baseball purist in me hopes it’s still there.
I feel that way for just about every baseball player. It sucks watching a career flop over injuries and basic maturity standards as most of that can be avoided by taking care of your shit. So hopefully Moncada does just that in Los Angeles so we can enjoy a bunch of former Chicago legends on the same stage together.
PS – I’m aware Tim Anderson is on a minor league deal but Zach Neto is injured to start the year and Kevin Newman blows, respectfully. So excuse me for saying it but I really think TA could be the opening day SS for what appears to be an atrocious club.