Chicago White Sox’s players are trapped in a waking nightmare of a season. The team is almost impossibly bad and losing at a near comical rate. The atmosphere around Chicago has become so toxic that even the White Sox’s own fans are mercilessly mocking the team.
One player who’s missed most of this misery is Yoan Moncada. On the surface that appears to be a lucky break. But Moncada seems to be dealing with his own misery.
The 29-year-old third baseman last played for the team on April 9 when he needed to be helped off the field. Moncada was diagnosed with a left adductor strain. The team moved him to the 60-day injured list and gave him a three-six month recovery timeline. However, the latest update provided on Moncada seems steeped in mystery.
“I can't tell you that we're going to get him back or we're not. I really just don't know. We're checking in daily, hoping for the best and waiting for him to tell us when he's feeling confident that he's not favoring it or worried about anything else,” White Sox interim manager Grady Sizemore said of Moncada per MLB.com’s Scott Merkin on X.
Under normal circumstances this quote would raise serious concerns about the manager, the player and even the organization in general. But these are not normal circumstances.
It’s unclear when Yoan Moncada will return to the White Sox
So far this season, the White Sox tied the record for the longest losing streak in American League history set by the Baltimore Orioles in 1988; entering play on Saturday the team is an incredible 62 games under .500 and has a very real chance of finishing with the worst record in modern MLB history; they’re just 10 losses away from having back-to-back 100 loss seasons; Chicago fired manager Pedro Grifol, and bench coach Charlie Montoyo, and third-base coach Eddie Rodriguez, and assistant hitting coach Mike Tosar; and they failed to move their most attractive trade chips Garrett Crochet and Luis Robert Jr. at the deadline.
In two years as manager of the White Sox Grifol went 89-190. That works out to a .319 winning percentage. Which is extremely bad and yet it’s somehow better than the team’s .237 winning percentage this season.
Former player Grady Sizemore was named interim manager so he's now in charge of this abomination. Based on his Moncada quote, it doesn’t sound like he’s having much fun.
Sizemore added that Moncada began running during his injury rehab but is “still kind of feeling something there,” per Merkin.
The White Sox signed Moncada to a five-year, $70 million extension after he had a career year in 2019. The deal includes a team option for 2025. So next year Chicago is going to have to decide between paying Moncada $25 million to stick around or spending $5 million to let him enter free agency.
Injuries have slowed Moncada’s once promising career. He was held to 104 games in 2022 due to oblique, hamstring and foot issues and a back injury limited him to just 92 games last season. He had hoped to bounce back in 2024 but so far this year he’s played in 11 games for the White Sox. Chicago stayed on brand with Moncada in the lineup, going 2-9 when he played.
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