When the Philadelphia Phillies traded Mickey Moniak plus minor leaguer Jadiel Sanchez to the Los Angeles Angels for Noah Syndergaard, the move was met with near-universal praise from Philly fans not just for what their favorite team got back, but for what they traded away too.

The first overall pick in the 2016 MLB Draft, Moniak never quite lived up to expectations, which is a nice way of saying he only appeared in 47 games for the Phillies over his tenure with the team. Despite earning solid praise during the camp for his on-field improvements, his pre-season success was dashed due to injury, and he never quite secured a steady spot with the team as a result. Moniak played two more games with Lehigh Valley than with the big team and was widely considered one of the players the Phillies should move if given the opportunity–right up there with Odubel Herrera and Didi Gregorius.

Fortunately, the 2022 MLB deadline has passed, and all three of those players are off of the Phillies' big league roster, with the former traded back to his home state of California, and the latter two designated for assignment and outright released, respectively. This, understandably, should have been good news for Moniak, as he not only gets to return to California but can play a more consistent role with an Angels club that seems more concerned with selling Mike Trout/Ohtani jerseys than actually making it to the postseason for a right-proper World Series run a la their cross-town rivals up in Elysian Park.

… yeah, you would think that, wouldn't you? Unfortunately, that isn't quite where Moniak's head is at, at least not yet.

Mickey Moniak Still Hurt?

When asked by Associated Press reported Greg Beacham about how he feels about his fresh start in LA, Mickey Moniak gave a very interesting answer that you can read below via NBC Sports Philadelphia.

“Looking back on my time in Philadelphia, I was grateful for it, (being) given a chance as an 18-year-old kid, came up with them, debuted with them. But I think that, you know, for me, I've always been a guy that maybe takes a little bit to get comfortable at every level, and once I get comfortable, it's on from there. So, wasn't really given that opportunity there, which makes sense. They're always in a pennant hunt with a lot of money on the field, so just to be here and be told that you're gonna go out and play and have some fun is huge.”

*exhales* alright, a lot to unpack there.

On paper, there is at least some validity to Moniak's case; up until 2022, he really never had a prolonged run with the Phillies to prove his abilities one way or another. He never played more than nine games in a row over his five individual runs with the big team during the 2021 season, and the aforementioned finger injury robbed him of the start of the 2022 MLB season. Still, Moniak played 18 games for the Phils between May 30th and July 15th and largely underperformed versus expectations. He only recorded six hits versus 50 at-bats, had an OPS+ of -3, and was ultimately deemed too offensively raw to be a viable piece for this team at any point in the immediate future – or at least less of a usable piece than Noah Syndergaard would be over the remainder of the 2022 MLB season.

Considering how his first game went with the team, securing a wild 79-pitch complete game that was ended mid-way through the fifth due to rain, it already looks like that was the correct call.

Will Mickey Moniak actually put together a career for himself in LA? Only time will tell; with Brandon Marsh also traded to the Phillies in a separate deal that netted LA fellow Philly draftee Logan O'Hoppe, the team should have opportunities for Moniak to see the field, and who knows, maybe all the Encinitas, California native needs to get his groove back is a steady dose of In-N-Out Burger and a 45-minute drive to the beach to get his game centered? Maybe it's as simple as Moniak being more of a tacos-at-the-Santa-Monica-Pier over Cheesesteaks down at the Jersey Shore sort of guy, and a later start to his day will right his circadian rhythm and get his whole game back to what folks projected when he was the near-consensus decision to go first overall back in 2016. Either way, fans of both teams will see soon enough, as there's no going back now.