INDIANAPOLIS — Perhaps lost a bit in the No. 1 prospect hype surrounding Yoan Moncada is that the 21-year-old is playing in Triple-A for the first time and hasn’t even played 30 games at this level yet.
While Moncada has been unquestionably impressive with the Charlotte Knights — he entered Monday’s game against the Indianapolis Indians with a .992 OPS and was named the International League’s player of the week for the first week of May — he still has plenty of room for growth. Part of it is refining his game, but another part is experiencing things for the first time that’ll pay off when he does get the call to 35th and Shields.
“You could throw him up there right now and he'd be fine, there's no question about it,” Knights manager Mark Grudzielanek said. “It's a work in progress. They'll be some things (that lead to the question) 'How come he didn't know that or this?' Well, he's 21 years old, how many minor league games has he played in?”
The answer to Grudzielanek’s slightly rhetorical question is 215, and he’ll likely see his 1,000th professional plate appearance sometime later this week. The White Sox expect Moncada to stick in the major leagues when they do call him up, so the plan has always been to be patient with his development.
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But while Moncada is here in the minors, he’s made an impression on his teammates as a “special talent” who’s quiet and doesn’t act like a guy who could be the next big thing in the majors.
“You get to see something you don’t really see a lot every night power-wise, speed-wise, glove-wise,” right-handed pitcher Tyler Danish said. “He’s got some balls this year from me that are just like, you ask yourself, how did he do it. And he’s a great teammate too. Lot of publicity around being a No. 1 guy, but he doesn’t show it or act like it at all. He’s just a normal guy like everyone else. I think that speaks highly of him as a person off the field as well.”
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Right-hander Carson Fulmer echoed that sentiment.
“His abilities on the field are one thing, but the kind of person he is is another,” the White Sox 2015 first-round pick said. “We get that inside kind of scoop a little bit about being around teammates. He’s one guy that I definitely love having around.”
Moncada repeatedly emphasized how hard he feels he has to work and said through an interpreter he learned a lot about the process it takes to succeed in the majors during his eight games with the Boston Red Sox last September. That September call-up didn’t go well — Moncada struck out 12 times in 20 plate appearances — but it’s served as a learning experience as he navigates how to face Triple-A opposition.
Moncada said it’s an “honor” to be MLB.com’s No. 1 prospect, too, but he isn’t concerned about anything but being completely ready for baseball’s highest level when the White Sox make that call.
“I don’t pay too much attention to that (No. 1 ranking),” Moncada said through an interpreter. “I don’t try to put that on my mind. I still have a job to do and it’s a long process for me to get to where I have to be.”