Red Sox prospect Yoan Moncada has arrived in Boston!
MLB.com’s top-ranked prospect, Yoan Moncada, will be in a Red Sox uniform on Friday. All indications are that his role will be far greater than anticipated.
The Boston Red Sox are a team in need of a powerful jolt, as they have emerged triumphant in only 25 of the 46 games they have participated in since the mid-summer classic. They are treading water, making little progress in catching the Toronto Blue Jays, a team that seemingly never loses.
On Friday, the Sox will embark on a nine-game road trip that begins out west, and will be playing 19 of their September contests away from Fenway Park. In addition, home is not the safe haven it appeared to be for the Red Sox earlier in the season, as exemplified by winning just three of six home games against Tampa and Kansas City on this past mini-homestand.
In addition, it is difficult to win games when the two worst relievers in the entire state of Massachusetts, Little League included, are pitching in high-leverage situations as they did yesterday. If the reader is unaware of whom I am referencing, the citation of some statistics should make it crystal clear.
I will list the August statistics accumulated by these two pitchers and this should remove all doubt as to their identities. In August, these run faucets have been on the mound for 19.1 innings. In those innings, 27 runs have scored (17 ER and 10 IR), 5 HR belted, 26 Hits laced, and 11 Bases on Balls issued.
Those numbers would be challenging to duplicate with my XBOX. The guilty culprits responsible for tossing BP during a live ballgame are Junichi Tazawa and Fernando Abad.
The schedule, the bullpen disarray, and an attempt to supercharge the offense are all contributing factors in the seemingly premature arrival of baseball’s top prospect.
Next: The Need
The Need
Travis Shaw had a very surprising and respectable first half, hitting .269/.332/.456, with 9 HR, and 48 RBI.
In the second half, he has hit .189/.268/.360 with 5 HR, and 13 RBI.
In August, as Shaw and Aaron Hill platooned the Hot Corner, the total production from 3B for the Red Sox was .180/.264/.258, with 2 HR and, nine RBI. Those numbers account for the half run per game decline in our offensive production.
Our offense has been towing an anchor since the All-Star Break. That anchor is in the form of any man standing on third base when we are in the field.
I hate to knock “Thrill Hill,” as he produced a crucial hit yesterday and rescued our bacon; however, Hill and Shaw have not hit a lick all August. With their “significant” contributions, our run production in the month of August was a “paltry” 5.0 runs per game, comparing unfavorably to our season’s average of almost 5.5 runs per game.
It is irrefutable that the position is in need of a dramatic upgrade and there happens to be a homegrown player available to step in on a regular basis to return the position to the prominence it once enjoyed during the halcyon days of Mike Lowell.
Next: Law: The times are changing
Law: The times are changing
According to ESPN Senior Writer Keith Law, baseball has undergone dramatic changes in thought with respect to bringing up valuable prospects on September 1 merely as a reward for a successful minor league season. Law asserts that teams only want to promote their prospects if they are prepared to play at the major League level and there is an opportunity for them to play on a regular basis.
The economic contributions to these changes are clear; promoting a player to the Majors as a September call-up adds approximately 30-days to the player’s service time. This enables the player to reach arbitration or free agency sooner than desired by the team or if the added service time is to be compensated for, the team must wait 30-days longer than desired to recall said player.
September 1 is no longer a monumental day because if a team has a void to fill and a talented prospect capable of filling said void, the team will promote the prospect when needed, as opposed to waiting for some arbitrary September 1 deadline. Relevant examples include the Braves’ Dansby Swanson, the National’s Lucas Giolito, and our own Andrew Benintendi.
As a result, Law does not anticipate more than one or two major prospects to be called up during the period of expanded rosters that commences today.
Next: Farrell’s Support
Farrell’s Support
Law and my esteemed colleague Sean Penney, as indicated in the following piece, share the same ideas with respect to Moncada’s potential usage; however, John Farrell indefatigably lobbied for Moncada’s promotion prior to the conclusion of the minor league season. It appears that Farrell has far grander plans for Moncada than either Law or Penney anticipated.
According to Law, Moncada meets the criteria for the promotion of a top prospect: there is a void that needs to be filled at third base and the Red Sox believe that Moncada is prepared to succeed at the Major League level while filling that void.
Farrell’s plans for Moncada are much greater than anticipated; he believes that Moncada will be a real difference maker. Such reasons account for Farrell’s vehement endorsement of bringing Moncada up to the Major League’s as soon as feasible.
“Farrell indicated he would like to see the 21-year-old take over at third base at least against right-handed pitchers and likened the potential impact to that of former late-season call-ups Jacoby Ellsbury in 2007 and Xander Bogaerts in 2013 in the Red Sox’s World Series-winning seasons.”
Farrell is quite cognizant of all of the factors working against the Red Sox that were mentioned earlier: the road-heavy schedule, a bullpen in disarray, and a premiere power position in third base where the power production has been nonexistent.
Next: Moncada at Third?
Moncada at Third?
In an article written by Christopher Crawford, special to ESPN.com, Crawford indicates the following about Moncada, “Since Aug. 12, he has spent all of his time at third base, and reports have come back positive on his time at the hot corner. Wherever Moncada plays for Boston, he has a chance to be a difference-maker, even in a lineup that ranks among the best in baseball.”
It is hardly coincidental that Moncada has been preparing to play the position that has yielded anchor-esque production, and dragging the Red Sox offense down with regularity.
Even Farrell claims that he needs more production from the position and that is why he is so adamant in his discussions with Dave Dombrowski on increasing Moncada’s role from initially that of only a pinch-runner or pinch-hitter, to replacing Shaw and getting the majority of the at-bats in the third base platoon with Aaron Hill.
While Moncada is a switch-hitter with great speed, he is far more proficient hitting from the left side, as he is batting .314 with a .993 OPS left-handed compared to .171/.710 from the right side.
Moncada will be active for Friday’s contest in Oakland, as his promotion has already been announced by the Red Sox.
Moncada has arrived far earlier than initially anticipated which would seem to indicate that Farrell has convinced Dombrowski of his plan for significantly more usage of the prospect than anyone had predicted.
Next: Red Sox Calling Up Yoan Moncada To Play Third Base
Only time will tell how successful Farrell has been in lobbying Dombrowski to remove the reigns from our prized prospect. Nevertheless, early indications lead me to believe that Farrell’s request was agreeable to Dombrowski.