On Tuesday night, the White Sox completed a trade with the New York Yankees, sending David Robertson, Todd Frazier, and Tommy Kahnle to the Bronx. The White Sox received MLB Pipeline’s #30 prospect OF Blake Rutherford, LHP Ian Clarkin, OF Tito Polo, and RHP Tyler Clippard. In addition, Rick Hahn ended “Moncada Watch” by recalling both MLB Pipeline‘s #1 prospect Yoán Moncada and RHP Brad Goldberg from AAA Charlotte for Wednesday’s game against the Dodgers.
Brad Goldberg has appeared in one game for the White Sox this season, but the majority of his work has come in AAA, where he had a 3-1 record with a 2.41 ERA. The 27-year-old has struck out 45 and walked 20 in 37.1 innings of work. The White Sox selected him in the 10th round of the 2013 MLB Draft, and that year, Baseball America named him “Closest To The Majors” and “Best Fastball in the White Sox Draft Class.” In 2016, he was a AAA All-Star, and in the 2017 World Baseball Classic, he pitched for Team Israel.
For Moncada, it has been a matter of “when”, rather than “if”, we would see him this season. In Charlotte, Moncada was slashing .285/.381/.452 with 12 HR and 36 RBI. Although he missed some time with a left thumb injury, he was named a AAA All-Star and was a participant in the 2017 Futures Game, after winning the MVP for the game in 2016. This will not be Moncada’s major league debut, however, as he hit .211 in just 19 at-bats for the Boston Red Sox last September. He is penciled in to make his White Sox debut at 2B and hit 6th.
White Sox fans are arguably just as excited as Moncada is for his debut tonight. The enthusiasm for the White Sox rebuild has largely been driven by the hype surrounding a prospect as talented as Moncada – Jim Callis has stated Moncada has the potential to be “Robinson Canó with more speed”. Moncada is our first highly touted prospect to be called up the big leagues this year, and we can expect that come September, we will see much more of the White Sox future talent.
But for now, Happy Moncada Day and Go White Sox!
The wait is finally over. pic.twitter.com/6ar0mjEwsB
— Sox On 35th (@SoxOn35th) July 19, 2017
