Today is Chicago White Sox third baseman Yoan Moncada’s 25th birthday. Unfortunately, he isn’t celebrating it on the road against the Baltimore Orioles as we hoped, so today we’re doing something a bit different. Let’s honor the crown jewel of the infamous Chris Sale trade and compare his 2019 season against some of the best covering the hot corner in White Sox history.
To fully understand how good Moncada was in 2019, we’ll compare him to fellow third basemen around the league. In the American League, he led all qualifying third baseman in average and was second in both on-base percentage and triples. He was also third in slugging percentage, fourth in total hits and doubles, as well as seventh in both home runs and runs batted in. Moncada even received one tenth-place vote in the AL MVP race!
Here’s a look at his full offensive stat line:
Standard Batting
| Year |
Age |
Tm |
G |
PA |
AB |
R |
H |
2B |
3B |
HR |
RBI |
SB |
CS |
BB |
SO |
BA |
OBP |
SLG |
OPS |
TB |
| 2019 | 24 | CHW | 132 | 559 | 511 | 83 | 161 | 34 | 5 | 25 | 79 | 10 | 3 | 40 | 154 | .315 | .367 | .548 | .915 | 280 |
|---|
Here’s how he fared defensively:
Standard Fielding
| Year |
Age |
Tm |
Pos |
Lg |
G |
GS |
CG |
Inn |
Ch |
PO |
A |
E |
DP |
Fld% |
lgFld% |
| 2019 | 24 | CHW | 3B | AL | 129 | 128 | 123 | 1095.2 | 391 | 120 | 256 | 15 | 37 | .962 | .958 |
|---|
When it comes to individual seasons in White Sox history, Yoan ranks first in slugging percentage, third in average, third in doubles, eighth in home runs, and tenth in total hits. While he trails statistically to seasons from Joe Crede, Robin Ventura, Bill Melton, and Pete Ward, it can’t be understated how impressive it is that Moncada ranks top ten in numerous statistical categories.
At only 25 years old, Moncada is far from a proven product and it’s hard to base an entire career on one season. However, if 2019 can be seen as a trendsetter for the third baseman, expect to see numerous seasons join this list of White Sox legends down the road.
