Red Sox Yoan Moncada Makes Impact In Futures Game

The Boston Red Sox are not the only ones drooling over Yoan Moncada’s services anymore. Neutral fans got to see him impact the 2016 All-Star Futures Game.

Christopher Smith of MassLive.com reported that “Moncada, the No. 1 prospect in the Boston Red Sox organization, smashed a two-run homer from the right side of the plate during the eighth inning” of the game on Sunday night. He went 2-for-5 and stole a base to help lead the World Team defeat Team U.S.A. 11-3, and Moncada was named the MVP for his performance.

Jason Mastrodonato of The Boston Herald reported, “The home run was estimated at 405 feet […] The home run was particularly impressive considering he hit it right-handed. In the minors this season, the switch-hitting Moncada has been much more successful hitting left-handed.” As a switch-hitter, hitting a .254 batting average from the right side against lefty pitching is nothing compared to his .330 average hitting from the left side of the plate against righty pitching. Apparently, being just .054 above the Mendoza Line is enough for Moncada to impress the rest of the world.

Here’s a tweet of the home run, which lit up on Twitter, Facebook, and many other social media platforms, solidifying Moncada’s status as the next phenom of Major League Baseball in the minds of the fans:

Moncada said after the game, “I wasn’t looking for a home run or anything, I just wanted good contact and the home run came about […] It just came like a normal home run.”

Natural, if you will? Well, it may start becoming natural for Moncada to be raising up trophies that he’s won in MLB competitions, like he did last night:

Some fans don’t even think that the Red Sox should wait on the future, as in throwing Moncada and Andrew Benintendi, another top prospect for the Red Sox, into the mix sooner rather than later:

Before everyone starts drowning in drool, here’s a towel to wipe it up. As much as the Futures Game highlighted the fact that Baseball America named Moncada first overall on their top prospects list for the first half of the season, he still has a while to go before he will make his debut in the big leagues.

At present, Moncada is a Double-A Portland Sea Dog and should remain that way, if Dave Dombrowski is a smart man. The Red Sox president of baseball operations is in the team’s success for the long haul, longer than just this fall’s postseason. Moncada may be hitting .328/.366/.657, but it’s only been 16 games for Portland.

While his time in Double-A may last only a short time before he’s promoted once again, Moncada’s progression needs to stay steady, meaning that a trip to Triple-A Pawtucket is more likely. Instead of one night, Moncada needs to prove that he can play with the big boys for at least another couple of months before being potentially shell-shocked on the big stage in Boston.

For all of Boston’s youthful starters like Xander Bogaerts and Mookie Betts, there are the current busts like Rusney Castillo. All three men have had their struggles when first making their starts in the majors for the Red Sox, and only two of them have finally overcome their issues.

It wasn’t so long ago that Castillo, a fellow Cuban, was also considered a phenom, much like Moncada. There was absolutely no question that Castillo was going to win the job in center field over Mookie Betts last season. Then, an injury and poor play at the plate not only cost him the starting job, but he was also sent back to the minors to try to rediscover himself. Now, Castillo still finds himself in minor-league limbo, not good enough for the majors, hitting just .233 in 57 Triple-A games in 2016.

Next: Red Sox Jeremy Hellickson Is Not The Answer

Between Castillo and some of the young pitchers, like Henry Owens and Eduardo Rodriguez, the Red Sox don’t want to rush their talent too early, just for the inevitable failure to ensue. This is a sport where someone who fails seven out of 10 times is a baseball idol, but it’s also where someone who fails eight out of 10 times is considered a curse on the team. The line is so thin that the Red Sox don’t need to worry about putting Moncada’s 21-year-old mind through it, at least not yet. So, why do it?

Moncada won the MVP of the Futures Game, and he’s exactly that: the future, not the present. However, it shouldn’t be too much longer for him becoming the regular second or third baseman for the Red Sox, based on his minor-league performance this season, preferably the whole season.