Yoán Moncada spoke to reporters on Tuesday, for the first time since being placed on the 10-Day IL, and shed some light on his hamstring strain. Good news for the White Sox, is that Moncada doesn’t think it’s a serious injury that will keep him sidelined for an extended time. Instead, Moncada believes he’ll be good to go once his IL stint is over.
Since he believes he can return soon, Moncada is trying to stay ready by continuing to do his work in the cage. Then, in a few days, he’ll start hitting on the field, too.
“I was feeling good, especially that day in Detroit,” Moncada said through an interpreter. “My swing was good before the injury happened. What I’m doing now is taking some swings left handed, and keeping as close to what it was before.”
The day Moncada referenced was a five-hit, five-RBI breakout performance on June 15. That day nearly doubled his RBI production on the season, and increased his batting average by 40 points. Moncada has been hitting below the Mendoza line since May 18, and several injuries have prevented him from getting into a groove this year. He had started putting together better at-bats recently, and the hope was a big day like that could jump start his summer. Instead, Moncada needed to slam on the brakes again.
“I’ve been trying to stay calm,” Moncada said through a translator. “It’s definitely frustrating. But I’m trying to take the positive of this. Maybe I’ll have a chance to come back stronger. Just try to find a positive in all this.”