The Red Sox Are Calling Up The No. 1 Prospect In Baseball, Yoan Moncada
Did Travis Shaw and Aaron Hill play themselves out of a starting job? Did Yoan Moncada play himself into a starting job? Does it matter? Who gives a shit! Yoan Moncada is headed to the major leagues after hitting .298 with a .928 OPS between Single-A Salem and Double-A Portland this year. Moncada is the next player in line to follow a recent trend of top prospects skipping the Triple-A level altogether. His teammate, Andrew Benintendi, did it last month, and the former number one overall pick, Dansby Swanson, just made the same leap for the Atlanta Braves.
It had previously been speculated that the Red Sox would call up Moncada in September for the sole purpose of being a set of legs off the bench late in games, but I think he’s going to play a much bigger role than that. I’m skeptical about his defense, as he’s only played 10 games as a third baseman at the professional level, but that bat, and his speed, is going to play at the major league level. That, and the fact that it can’t be much worse than what they’ve gotten at the third base position this year. Out of 30 major league teams, Red Sox third basemen are 27th in batting average (.248), and 28th in OPS (.704).
They needed an upgrade, and they got one. His name is Yoan Moncada, he’s the number one prospect in baseball, and the starting third baseman job for the Boston Red Sox is now his to lose.