It appears Yoan Moncada’s back issues are going to be a continual concern for the third baseman.
This afternoon, the White Sox announced that they placed Yoan Moncada on the Injured List with lower back inflammation. In a corresponding move, Zach Remillard was called up to the major leagues for the first time in his career.
This was a move that was foreshadowed by manager Pedro Grifol before the game on Wednesday.
“We’ll see. It’s going to be an ongoing thing,” Grifol said, in reference to whether or not Moncada would need to head onto the Injured List as part of his recovery from recent back pain – which has clearly affected his play on the field.
Moncada’s back has clearly bothered him since Spring Training, and in his most recent IL stint, Rick Hahn mentioned that Moncada was dealing with a protruding disc – similar to the injuries Joe Crede dealt with throughout his career. After a hot start to the season in which he was hitting .314/.351/.500 as recently as May 21, Moncada has hit just .147/.206/.235 in his last 20 games. This corresponds with the time that fans started to see Moncada really struggle to run out of the box and swing from the right side of the plate. Hopefully, some time off will allow Moncada the ability to rest up and find some of his early-season success once again.
Remillard, 29, has been in the White Sox system since he was drafted in the 10th round out of Coastal Carolina University. He’s spent the last two and a half seasons in AAA, hitting .244/.340/.376 across that time period. Overall, he has played 694 games in the minor leagues, posting a .705 OPS over seven seasons.
He offers the team some defensive versatility, spending time at every position except for pitcher and catcher this season.
It’s cool to see guys who have had to grind through the minors finally get their shot; there’s something special about players who will do whatever it takes to make the major leagues. It will be interesting to see what Remillard can do once he gets some at-bats.
Welcome to The Show, Zach Remillard.
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