Wonder Boy Is Finding His Stroke In The Big Leagues

While Jose Abreu inches his way toward history his Cuban protégé has found his stroke. A simple suggestion from Abreu has thrust Wonder Boy, and Yoan Moncada, into the spotlight. Moncada blasted a two-run home run on Wednesday to give the White Sox a lead and upset Brad Peacock’s nascent no-hitter. They say it's not the wood but the carpenter, but there is more to that story. Wonder Boy, the given name of Roy Hobbs' thunder stick in The Natural, may not be in Moncada's rotation of bats but he's on a Hobbsian tear. The White Sox future lies with Moncada and after taking his lumps early on, a few adjustments have unlocked success. With his latest surge at the plate, the Cuban slugger has raised his average over the Mendoza-line to .241 while boosting his on-base and slugging percentage to .349 and .432.

“I knew he had the talent,” Abreu told Dan Hayes of CSN Chicago after the game on Wednesday. “I never had a doubt about it. It was just a matter for him to get to know this process and to get to know the league and for him to use the proper tools to take advantage. We are just seeing what he’s capable of doing and it’s a good sign for him building for next season.”

Over the past 30 days, Moncada is batting .324 with a .948 OPS. The only thing more impressive is that Moncada’s production at the plate is overshadowed by three of his teammates. Abreu, Tim Anderson and the immutable Avisail Garcia are batting .326, .352 and .398 over the same period.

If we magnify this cross-section even further, Moncada, Anderson and Garcia are sizzling. Moncada has rifled three home runs in the last seven days with a .407 batting average and Anderson and Garcia are batting .407 and .500 respectively. Patience has paid off for the young slugger and his legion fans. The big leagues haven’t been an easy nut to crack for Moncada. He had more punch-outs than hits in his 2016 debut with the Red Sox leading to fears about his propensity to swing-and-miss. When he found himself back in the majors in 2017 he didn’t light the world on fire either and was hitting a dismal .179 on Sept. 9.

But a little bit of wisdom from a veteran and the intelligence gathered over two months of big-league experience set fire to Moncada’s bat. Abreu bestowed the young prince with a bushel of new sticks that were a bit lighter and suggested Moncada be quicker through the zone. And if Moncada should listen to someone about hitting it should be the guy that is about to make history by knocking in 100 + runs and belting 25 or more home runs in his first four seasons, something only Joe DiMaggio and Albert Pujols have done.

“I just thought he wasn’t using the bats for him to take advantage of his swing,” Abreu said through an interpreter. “These new bats have better balance with the weight and are a little shorter than the other ones. I just did it thinking of him taking advantage of his power, his hands and to feel more freedom in his swing.”

Abreu first made the suggestion to chop a few inches off his stick on Sept. 11 and Moncada promptly logged three hits. Since then he has posted hits in eight of the last nine games and five multi-hit contests. Weeks back I wrote about Moncada’s trouble with the changeup and it seems Rick Renteria and the White Sox coaching staff noticed this as well.

“We’ve talked about Moncada’s trying to do some hitting with offspeed pitches, secondary pitches,” manager Rick Renteria said after the Sept. 11 game against the Royals. “Today he did that. Couple of knocks from both sides of the plate.”

With a lighter bat and quicker stroke, Moncada is shaping up to be the player White Sox fans were promised. He is sticking to a patient approach that will serve him well as he takes Major League Baseball by storm.