Before the 2017 season began, the Boston Red Sox held ownership over the (nearly consensus) top prospect in all of baseball, Cuban second baseman, Yoan Moncada.
But in an effort to improve their rotation heading into the season, the Red Sox traded him as the center piece of a package for probably 2017 AL Cy Young award winner Chris Sale. And while the move has certainly paid off for the Red Sox, I don’t think the White Sox are losing any sleep over it, either.
Moncada is a top-shelf talent and will be a staple on the South side of Chicago for many, many years. In fact, even though the bat hasn’t quite come around just yet (it’s only been ten games, we’ll give it some time), his defense is already shining through.
Last night, for example, he made absolutely stellar defensive maneuvers on back-to-back plays.
Take a look:
Yoan Moncada with INCREDIBLE plays on BACK-TO-BACK pitches. pic.twitter.com/AoVgb1eqlj
— Baseball is Fun (@flippingbats) July 30, 2017
To be honest, I’m not even sure if I believe that first throw is real. The angle, the momentum, the fact that he had to throw way across his body from, essentially, the shortstop position … I just have no idea how he through a dead-eye accurate missile to first base.
And then, not more than a play later, he gloves and flips a perfectly executed bunt to the first baseman using only his glove.
That’s pretty impressive, and just a taste of things to come.