Stop quoting the dude!!

17 minutes ago, Jack Parkman said:

Nobody should expect stardom from any prospect, no matter how highly ranked they are. Even Eloy. A lot of people are expecting him to be a superstar right off the bat and I think a lot of people are going to be disappointed. I expect Eloy to be a solid middle of the order bat similar to Dye or Carlos Lee. Nothing earth shattering, but solid nonetheless. I expect Moncada to be a solid middle infielder with pop, and hopefully he hits for average. If Moncada's doing .255/.340/.790 with 20-25 HR and a bunch of XBH and 25-30 SB, that shouldn't be awful. Just like if Eloy his hitting .275/.330/.825 with 25-30 HR and 90-110 RBI, nobody should be upset with that either. Those are solid MLB players, even if not spectacular. 

That would be fantastic. And he can do that. And if Kopech is anything like we think he'll be, that will make us winners in the Sale trade. But he needs to actually do it. And that means putting the ball in play more.

I imagine if the Red Sox don’t win the World Series this year we probably win the sale trade. 

5 hours ago, BlackSox13 said:

I just don't understand how some fans can write him off so easily and call him a bust at just 23 years old. This is his first full season. Look how long it took Avi to come around and he never had the tools Yoan has. If anything Avi should have taught us to remain patient, which many of us are doing. 

Especially fans of the team. Honestly Moncada could be the difference between a championship or two or slightly above mediocre. We shouldn’t be writing him off rather finding every positive daily and hoping he can improve week by week. I’m not one to say “he plays on our team so support him!” because trust me, there are PLENTY of guys who suck ass on this team, but guys like Anderson, Moncada, Kopech, Lopez, Rodon, Giolito and maybe to some extent Garcia, Abreu & Narvaez should be cheered for every night, not trashed.

Every player is different. Moncada was obviously pretty immature when he arrived stateside and there's no telling what kinds of emotional traumas go on when you leave Cuba like he did. In baseball terms, he spent a year or more out of organized baseball while he left Cuba and that's something that surely set back his developmental timeline a little bit as well. There's just no reason to panic at this stage.

6 hours ago, BlackSox13 said:

I just don't understand how some fans can write him off so easily and call him a bust at just 23 years old. This is his first full season. Look how long it took Avi to come around and he never had the tools Yoan has. If anything Avi should have taught us to remain patient, which many of us are doing. 

Avi looks more and more to me like a 1+season BABIP mirage as this season wears on. 

24 minutes ago, Greg Hibbard said:

Avi looks more and more to me like a 1+season BABIP mirage as this season wears on. 

I think is the opposite.  He's been hurt this year, and still putting up replacement level numbers.

8 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

I think is the opposite.  He's been hurt this year, and still putting up replacement level numbers.

If only Hahn would have traded him last offseason.  Totally understand why he didn’t and I probably wouldn’t have either, but damn, coulda added a really nice prospect to reset Peavy deal  

 

2 hours ago, NWINFan said:

Yes, this would be a saner approach. But many fans want to see the rebuild work so badly they want immediate results from the young players. Some expect these players to explode on the scene and change things immediately. Things are improving, but real change is still not going happen just yet. As for Moncada, all I want is a solid middle infielder. I am not expecting a superstar. And those expectations shouldn't be forced on him just because he was an important part of a large trade.

That's exactly the problem. Some people expect instant gratification while ignoring that the majority of players need time to adjust to the MLB level of competition. Seriously it's like some people have never watched baseball in their life.

2 hours ago, soxfan49 said:

Especially fans of the team. Honestly Moncada could be the difference between a championship or two or slightly above mediocre. We shouldn’t be writing him off rather finding every positive daily and hoping he can improve week by week. I’m not one to say “he plays on our team so support him!” because trust me, there are PLENTY of guys who suck ass on this team, but guys like Anderson, Moncada, Kopech, Lopez, Rodon, Giolito and maybe to some extent Garcia, Abreu & Narvaez should be cheered for every night, not trashed.

This is the approach I take as well. Look for the positive things and hope Yoan builds on them. MLB pitchers have adjusted to Yoan so now he needs to adjust to them. Anyone that's watched White Sox baseball should already know this because Hawk has only been preaching " baseball is a game of adjustments" for how many years now?

i'm not going to dog Moncada because look at how long the Sox game Avi to develop! this is Yoan FIRST season in the bigs. 

it can only go up from here.

I never realized until today that Moncada and Frank Thomas have the same birthday.

I think Moncada is about to go on a tear to finish the season. He's starting to adjust to how pitchers are attacking him. 

Edited August 28, 20187 yr by Jack Parkman

11 strikeouts in his last 11 games (46 PAs / 41 ABs). If that trend continues that could be very good. 

11 hours ago, Greg Hibbard said:

11 strikeouts in his last 11 games (46 PAs / 41 ABs). If that trend continues that could be very good. 

Yup. He's been unlucky on BABIP recently as well. As it normalizes, he should start to go on a tear. Every time he hits a ball hard it seems to go right to a defender. 

Edited August 29, 20187 yr by Jack Parkman

18 Ks in last 74 PAs

I'll take that trend...

Moncada has been playing very good ball of late.  

He has been taking fewer pitches in 2 strike counts, and has been hitting more balls to the opposite field, even while hitting right handed. That is very encouraging to me.

Moncada nearing a career low in strikeout rate in a 15-game span:

He's managed solid production in that span as well:

He has also made some significant strides as a right-handed hitter. Since the start of July, he has a 100 wRC+ (.717 OPS) with a manageable 27% K% and 11% BB%. He has actually been better right-handed than left-handed by a small amount since July. This should end the discussion about him dropping switch-hitting for the moment.

If I am understanding the charting right, he is swinging at more pitches and his hitting is paying off because of it?  Awesome.

This is NOT Moncada's 1st year in the bigs. He had 199 AB's last year and now has a total of 722 for his career. His BA this year is lower than it was last year. How many at bats does he need to prove himself? 1000? 2000? By the way, he now holds the MLB record for most strikeouts in a season by a switch hitter.

1 hour ago, bubba phillips said:

This is NOT Moncada's 1st year in the bigs. He had 199 AB's last year and now has a total of 722 for his career. His BA this year is lower than it was last year. How many at bats does he need to prove himself? 1000? 2000? By the way, he now holds the MLB record for most strikeouts in a season by a switch hitter.

Hey Tom "Party." 

2 hours ago, bubba phillips said:

This is NOT Moncada's 1st year in the bigs. He had 199 AB's last year and now has a total of 722 for his career. His BA this year is lower than it was last year. How many at bats does he need to prove himself? 1000? 2000? By the way, he now holds the MLB record for most strikeouts in a season by a switch hitter.

Scalding hot take right there. Come back in a couple of seasons

His 21% K% over his last 15 games is his lowest 15-game K% as a major leaguer.

2 hours ago, Jake said:

His 21% K% over his last 15 games is his lowest 15-game K% as a major leaguer.

BUT WHAT ABOUT WHAT BUBBA PHILLIPS SAID

U guys really think this guy has had a good year and shown improvement from last year?

When I look at his stats I see a barely above replacement player who has a lower wRC than heavy hitters like Alen Hanson.

Nothing about this kid screams elite to me. Go watch Atlanta, NY, or the Nats if you want to see some truly elite young talent.