Chicago White Sox not overly concerned with Moncada's strikeouts
Striking out is one of the ultimate individual failures in sports.
Or is it?
A quick check of Major League Baseball's record books reveals four Hall of Famers on the Top 10 list for most career strikeouts.
Reggie Jackson is first with 2,597, followed by Jim Thome (2,548). Willie Stargell is No. 8 with 1,936 career Ks, and Mike Schmidt is 10th with 1,883.
Add Sammy Sosa, fourth all time with 2,306, and Alex Rodriguez, fifth with 2,287, and it's not the worst list to be on.
So what does this all have to do with Yoan Moncada?
"That's part of his game," said White Sox general manager Rick Hahn.
As he nears the end of his first full season, Moncada was leading the majors with 202 strikeouts heading into the Sox's Wednesday night game at Cleveland.
In 856 plate appearances with the Boston Red Sox and White Sox, the switch hitter has 288 strikeouts.
Aforementioned company aside, Moncada realizes he has to cut down on the strikeouts if he's ever going to realize his prodigious potential.
"Just be more aware of the strike zone," the 23-year-old second baseman said through a translator. "I think their (umpire's) strike zone is something where they just know where it is.
"For me, the strike zone is just one and it's the only one that I've been used to since I started playing. For me, it's just a matter of better recognizing the pitches and being more aggressive."
The White Sox aren't overly concerned about Moncada's high strikeout rate because he does have a veteran's eye, and they're confident he will stop taking so many close pitches for strike three and start swinging the bat as he gains more experience.
"Is the (strikeout) number higher than we would like?" Hahn asked. "Absolutely. It's higher than he would like. One encouraging part of it is, you have seen him repeatedly take pitches on the borderline, some of which have gone against him despite their location. The kid knows the strike zone, and that's a tough thing to teach.
"If we have to teach him to be a little more aggressive earlier in counts when he gets hittable pitches that he's looking for, we'll take that challenge. This kid's got a world of hitting ability, blessed with fantastic tools, power. The plate discipline's one of the things that's tough to teach, and he already comes with that."