HOUSTON — White Sox third baseman Yoán Moncada has had this conversation before, unfortunately.
“During the Tampa series, I just felt congestion, headaches, body aches,” Moncada said Friday through team interpreter Billy Russo. “I wasn’t feeling good. I don’t know exactly what it was. But I wasn’t feeling good. Now I feel better, but I still feel like my body’s tired. … A little lack of energy, but I feel better than how I was feeling before.”
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The initial news that Moncada was missing games this week because of an illness gave the impression the issue was minor, but his description of symptoms spurred memories of his struggle last season with the long-haul effects of COVID-19. After first getting headaches during Sunday’s victory in Detroit, Moncada reported diminished strength and energy and even said he lost taste and smell again for a time. Moncada is vaccinated, but the symptoms were such that he was tested again for the virus. The results came back negative and the diagnosis of a sinus infection has been reaffirmed, but Moncada is in a familiar spot as he returned to action Thursday night.
“It seems a little bit similar because I don’t feel the strength in my body to do things, but I know that it’s not what I had last year,” Moncada said. “It is not COVID. Right now, I just need to find a way to start feeling better and stronger, and that’s what I’m working on, working on with the trainers, to feel that way for me to start feeling better and stronger.”
After struggling to a .225/.320/.385 batting line last season, renewed strength and energy came for Moncada in the offseason. Though he has not quite mirrored the power and exit velocity of his breakout 2019 season, his combination of on-base ability (.276/.400/.403, 131 wRC+ entering Friday) and defense has him on track for a stalwart season and All-Star team consideration.
“I didn’t know until I got here just how special he is. He’s very special, in every way,” manager Tony La Russa said. “I don’t think you can give him enough credit. It just doesn’t seem like we talk enough about him. He’s been very consistent, he’s gotten as many or more big hits than anybody on the team, and he makes a lot of plays defensively.”
Moncada’s play has clarified his central role on a team that’s thriving despite debilitating injuries, and that’s served to clarify his approach to trying to play through his ailment.
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“The team needs me; my teammates need me,” Moncada said. “We’re a team, and I know that even though I’m not feeling good, the easy response would be ‘I don’t want to play.’ But, no, I want to play. I want to help this team. I want to help my teammates to win games. And that’s why I have to find a way to get through this. I have to keep grinding and doing the best that I can to help this team, no matter what, if I’m feeling 100 percent or not. But I know that even though I’m not 100 percent, I can still help this team.”
The need is hard to argue.
Beyond the long-term absences of Luis Robert and Eloy Jiménez and with Nick Madrigal recently being lost for the season, the Sox’s positional depth on even the active roster is as minimal as it’s been all season. Billy Hamilton had a small setback in his recovery from an oblique strain, and Adam Eaton was replaced by an extra relief arm when he was placed on the injured list for a hamstring strain. Veteran outfielder Brian Goodwin has provided an early offensive spark since being called up, but the team is short enough on bodies that he might be playing right now even if he hadn’t.
Utilityman Leury García is active but unutilized after bruising his right knee on a slide against the Rays, and Adam Engel has been typically playing on alternating days at the insistence of the medical staff since returning from a hamstring tear. Yermín Mercedes was the only position player on the bench Friday night with truly no health restrictions, but he didn’t start because it’s widely acknowledged that his offense has collapsed and his approach has deteriorated. Since winning American League rookie of the month in April, Mercedes has hit .193/.260/.271.
“He’s still fighting it,” La Russa said of Mercedes. “He still has that beautiful smile, but he’s not the same. It’s bothering him.”
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And so Moncada has already been vital in staving off the effects of injuries on the White Sox offense, and as they try to maintain their division lead through a trying stretch of their schedule, he feels the pull only more acutely.
“Probably not at 100 percent, but I can play and I know that there are ways I can help this team,” Moncada said. “It’s definitely a pride thing — I will say, a professional pride — to want to be here. You want to be accountable, you want to help the guys.”
Even Jake Burger, the top third-base prospect in the organization, has been working at second base at Triple-A Charlotte to add versatility. He made his professional debut at that position on Thursday. The work to expand Burger’s capabilities started before Madrigal’s injury created immediate depth issues at second, and he needs to improve against right-handed pitching before he can realistically provide a boost. But La Russa’s assessment of Burger’s work is telling: He sees it as a path for him to get in the lineup if he earns a promotion. At third base, the White Sox depend on Moncada, and La Russa downplayed any idea that they might move him around.
That’s the prevailing sense of much of the Sox core as they labor through a series of minor, nagging issues that do not quite rise to the level of the injured list placements that are widespread among position players. The dominant and impressively healthy rotation is carrying the team to contention, and the position player group is just trying to get through.
“I think we’re in a good spot,” Tim Anderson said. “Once we get Eloy back, and Robert, we’ll be in an even better spot to continue to keep pushing. Guys are stepping in and they’re filling in for those guys and they’re playing. They want to compete every day. Every guy wants a job at the big-league level. So all those guys are filling in and the vibes are good.”
Are the first-place Sox resilient?
“What you think?” Anderson countered. “Yeah, I think so.”
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“We’ve been playing as a team,” Moncada said. “We are united; we are playing for the same goal. Everybody’s pulling to the same side, and I think that’s the key. We’ve been very disciplined on how we like to do things and how we are performing — that’s important. That’s why, even though we are missing some guys, the guys that are here are filling those holes.”
(Photo: Bob Levey / Getty Images)