Moncada set for season debut on Monday

After recovering from injury with Charlotte, the star third baseman is ready to rejoin the White Sox.

In extremely welcome news out of the Chicago White Sox, manager Tony La Russa said on Wednesday that Yoán Moncada is likely to be activated off of the injured list on May 8. Should the prediction come to fruition, the Golden Glove-caliber third baseman would rejoin the lineup tomorrow against the Cleveland Guardians at Guaranteed Rate Field.

Ron Vesely/Getty Images

After slashing .263/.375/.412 with 14 home runs, 61 RBIs and three stolen bases in 144 games in what was considered an “off” year in 2021, it’s no secret that the third baseman was one to watch coming into 2022 — and if he managed to rediscover that magic from 2019, other teams should be very worried.

However, in a shock announcement on the Opening Day roster, Moncada was placed on the 10-day IL to start the season. Suffering from a mildly-strained (Grade 1) oblique muscle, GM Rick Hahn told reporters in Detroit that Moncada likely would miss around three weeks of play after being scratched from the spring training finale against the San Diego Padres. Moncada began his rehab assignment with the Triple-A Charlotte Knights on April 30 at Truist Field, and he quickly proved that it wouldn’t be long before he was ready to rejoin Chicago. He smashed a home run over right center last Sunday and a second one this past Friday — if he’s still injured, he certainly isn’t showing it.

Between an extensive list of players on the IL and an even longer list of silly errors in both offense and defense, the White Sox have had a patchy start to the 2022 season, so the return of Moncada is more than welcome news. His role at third base has largely been covered by a combination of Jake Burger, Josh Harrison and Leury García, with Burger likely heading back to Triple-A when Moncada is activated.

With five straight wins in the bag for Chicago heading into Sunday’s finale at Fenway Park with the Boston Red Sox, the season is definitely heating up. Let’s hope to see Moncada healthy and ready to play at home tomorrow.