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The Los Angeles Angels were without one of their better sluggers on Tuesday night, but he had a pretty good reason for the excused absence.
Yoan Moncada was on MLB’s restricted list on Tuesday, as he was taking his U.S. Citizenship test.
The 30-year-old Moncada is from Cuba and signed with the Boston Red Sox as an international free agent for a signing bonus of over $31 million.
Moncada, aged 19 at the time, promptly became one of the top prospects in all baseball as a switch-hitter. He made his MLB debut roughly a year and a half after signing, at the age of 21.
The Sox made a stunning move, though, after the 2016 seaso when they traded Moncada, Michael Kopech, and two others to the Chicago White Sox for Chris Sale, who just wrapped up his season and was a perennial Cy Young Award candidate.
Moncada has never quite lived up to the hype, even striking out an MLB-high 217 times in 2018. He did hit .315 with a .915 OPS in 2019, and his 5.1 WAR that season was also a career-best. He posted a 4.1 two years later.
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Moncada spent eight seasons with the White Sox, posting up-and-down numbers throughout his tenure, much like the organization while he was there. In 2021, they won the AL Central, but three years later, they set the modern-era record for the most losses in a season (Moncada played in just 12 games last season).
The infielder has maintained his Cuban citizenship, and he played for Team Cuba in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, slashing .435/.519/.739.
In his career, Moncada is a .252 hitter with a .756 OPS. This season, he’s hitting .221 with a .436 slugging percentage.
It’s not yet known whether Moncada will be available for the Angels’ 4:00 p.m. game against the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday, but at the very least, he’ll head to Detroit this weekend for a three-game set with the Tigers.
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