Yoan Moncada Smoked A Line Drive Home Run Off The Batter's Eye Last Night
The Red Sox were off last night, so it’s time for prospect porn. Last night, Red Sox top prospect Yoan Moncada smoked a line drive off the batter’s eye for his third home run in his last six games. Let’s talk about those last six games for a second. In the month of July, Moncada is 10-for-23 (.435), with 2 doubles, a triple and 3 home runs, which equates to a 1.500 OPS. He’s also driven in 10 runs and swiped three bags. That’s just in the last six games.
Moncada made his Double-A debut with the Portland Sea Dogs on June 21, and he’s hitting .317 with a .977 OPS since being called up. In 76 games this season between High-A Salem and Portland, Moncada is hitting .309 with a .936 OPS, 28 doubles, 5 triples and 8 home runs. Oh, yeah — he’s also stolen FORTY fucking bases.
Of course, all this Moncada talk is sure to bring up a few questions. First, do you think the Red Sox will trade him? Well, I don’t think he’s “untouchable”. That being said, a player like Moncada is only on the table if a pitcher like Jose Fernandez or Chris Sale is coming back, and I don’t think either of those two pitchers will be dealt at the deadline. Maybe this offseason, but I’d bet against either pitcher moving before August 1. So, by default, that essentially makes Moncada untouchable, because I can’t see the Red Sox dealing him for anything less than a bonafide ace, and that guy really just isn’t available this year.
The second question in regards to Moncada would be, if he’s not getting dealt, then when do you think we’ll see him at the major league level? It won’t be this year. At least, I don’t think so. The counter to that would be that Moncada is 21, and Xander Bogaerts was 20 when the Red Sox called him up in late August of 2013. The counter to that counter is that it’s not really an age thing; it’s a minor league experience thing. Even at the age of 20, Bogaerts still had 1,680 plate appearances in exactly 400 minor league games before his call-up. Moncada only has 714 plate appearances in 157 games. The gap seems bigger than it really is, though.
You’ll be seeing Moncada in 2017. Maybe not to start the year, but you’ll see him next year. And if you don’t, then that means that Dave Dombrowski brought one of the best pitchers in the game to Boston during this upcoming offseason. But the way that I look at it is almost like those Sarah McLachlan sad puppy commercials. If you don’t see the sad puppies, you’re much less likely to help the sad puppies. If you don’t watch Moncada play, it’s much easier as a fan to be like, “Yeah, fuck it, guy. Trade Moncada for Fernandez, bro.” But then you watch him play, and you’re like, “If the Red Sox trade Moncada, I will handcuff myself to the front desk at Fenway Park.”