Is arrow pointing back up for Chicago White Sox's Moncada?
Yoan Moncada's career arrow is starting to point up again.
On Friday night, the Chicago White Sox's slumping second baseman was dropped to No. 8 in the batting order following a 2-for-29 slide that included 18 strikeouts.
Moncada still wanted to play and work his way out of the funk, so manager Rick Renteria decided to give him a break by hitting him at the bottom of the lineup.
"I think it had more to do with allowing him to see other guys throughout the at-bats first, see them get through their experiences," Renteria said. "When you're struggling a little bit, you're leading off and you're not having the success that you want, it can deflate you a little bit."
Hitting eighth against the Cleveland Indians on Friday and Saturday, Moncada was a combined 2-for-5 was a home run, double and walk. The 23-year-old switch hitter also struck out twice but looked much more aggressive at the plate.
"When you are batting in the bottom part of the lineup, you have more chances to see how the pitcher is throwing," Moncada said through a translator. "You can identify their pitches. In that aspect, it's beneficial."
Moncada moved up to the No. 6 spot in the order Sunday and, like most of his teammates, he had trouble against Cleveland starter Carlos Carrasco.
Moncada took called third strikes his first 2 at-bats before popping out and then hitting a single and scoring on his final trip to the plate.
Getting Moncada's bat right and confidence up is one of the White Sox's primary goals over the last seven weeks of the season.
"This kid's going to be pretty good," Renteria said. "I think he's experiencing now a lot of things that maybe he would have experienced had he still been in the minor leagues. He just happens to be doing it at the major-league level.
"Like a lot of our guys now, they're experiencing some moments that are difficult at a particular time, but I think they're gaining knowledge every day. They're inching closer to ultimately who I believe they're going to become."