The cries against Yoan Moncada and his streaky offense compounded by shotty defense have ebbed. But, there are still a few distant shouts against Moncada’s clear elegance on a baseball field.
For a brief period in late May and early June, I was one of those voices railing against the White Sox savior, not because he booted a few routine plays, but because his body language was lethargic and pouty. I too am disgusted by his streaky offense, passive approach in advantage counts and stubborn attitude sometimes.
But, check this stat out:
A year ago today, Yoan Moncada made his White Sox debut.
How would you rate his performance so far? pic.twitter.com/zp9pMUPYqZ
— White Sox Talk (@NBCSWhiteSox) July 19, 2018
That is a good season (we’ll just ignore the 204 strikeouts and .236 batting average). In that same time period, Moncada logged a 103 wRC+ and .421 slugging percentage — just about even with his 2018 season.
His on-base percentage has to improve and that will come around with more experience. When his OBP comes around — as will his batting average — that OPS will start climbing upwards as well.
Now, I realize this isn’t the most compelling set of statistics. Blasting 20 home runs in 144 games is meh after Moncada was sold as a bonafide superstar before he stepped in a major-league batters box. But there’s more.
Yoan Moncada's first half review: 18 doubles, 5 triples, 11 home runs, 40 RBI.
Joins Javier Baez, Andrew Benintendi, Trevor Story and Chris Taylor as only #MLB players 15+ 2B/5+ 3B/10+ HR/40+ RBI this season. #WhiteSox
— Matt Enuco (@Matt_Enuco) July 19, 2018
If we take a step back and realize that this is his first full season in the major leagues a silver lining appears. He has been hampered by a few injuries that interrupted what seemed to be a groove and in 13 games in July Moncada has batted .327 while slashing his punchouts (14)in a similar sample size from May (24).
Who knows what the all-star break has done to his recent hot streak. Hopefully, he picks up where he left off and lights the competition on fire the rest of the month. The good news is that everyone can take a collective sigh of relief with the understanding that it is a big adjustment to hit in the major leagues and Moncada is still very young.
And if that doesn’t convince you to have patience with Moncada remember how long it took Avisail Garcia to come around.
I know, I know…none of us have the patience for that.