White Sox manager Pedro Grifol provided an update on Yoan Moncada, and it doesn’t bode well for the team’s everyday third baseman.
“I don’t have an answer to that,” Grifol said when asked about Moncada’s timeline for return. “It could be 10 days, it could be two weeks. I don’t have an answer.”
Moncada has repeatedly been throwing and shagging fly balls, but he’s still not hitting yet. It sounds like he’ll be sidelined at least through the All-Star break given the tone of today’s comments.
Moncada’s back has clearly bothered him since Spring Training, and during his most recent IL stint, Rick Hahn mentioned that the third baseman was dealing with a protruding disc – similar to the injuries Joe Crede dealt with throughout his career.
After a hot start to the season in which he was hitting .314/.351/.500 as recently as May 21, Moncada has hit just .147/.206/.235 in his last 20 games. This corresponds with the time that fans started to see Yo really struggle to run out of the box and swing from the right side of the plate.
Hopefully, the continued time off will allow Moncada the ability to rest up and find some of his early-season success once again during the second half.
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