Chicago White Sox luckily dodge serious Yoan Moncada injury

Yoan Moncada’s knee injury was not as serious as it originally appeared. And that’s excellent news for his future and that of Chicago White Sox.

When Yoan Moncada’s right knee collided with Willy Garcia’s head on a shallow fly ball to right field, every member or fan of the Chicago White Sox gasped and held their breath. And when Moncada couldn’t put weight on his leg, it almost seemed like the franchise’s future hung in the balance.

Fortunately, it looks like everyone can breathe a little easier now.

Moncada sustained a right knee contusion (day-to-day) with X-rays on the knee coming back negative. Garcia, in turn, suffered a concussion and has been sent to the DL.

A Narrow Miss

Interestingly, though Garcia took the blow to the head and briefly lost consciousness, he managed to sit up before Moncada, which led to increased fear about the top prospect’s knee.

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On one hand, his knee collided with Garcia while elevated. As such. It didn’t look like he would suffer ligament damage the way that Kyle Schwarber did last year, for example. However, whether he may have torn ligaments while planting his foot or perhaps broke his kneecap was another question. Either injury would’ve ended his season.

But the post-injury evaluation, combined with X-ray, left the White Sox confident that there was no structural damage to the knee. Thank goodness.

For better or worse, Moncada’s presence in the lineup has helped make the Sox interesting again. In the midst of an expectedly tough season, his arrival brought hope and excitement for the future. Sure, his stats thus far (.105 batting average, .521 OPS, one home run, seven RBI) haven’t set the world on fire. But his athleticism and pleasantly surprising plate discipline have given Sox fans reasons to watch him play.

If he had suffered a more devastating injury, the consequences could have been terrible. Aside from him missing out on valuable big-league experience, who would’ve known what kind of player he would come back as? Would he have still been the man that was the centerpiece of the Chris Sale trade? Or could he have turned into a shell of himself at only 22 years old?

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Thankfully, the Chicago White Sox won’t need to worry about answering those questions yet. Assuming his injury is as relatively mild as expected, Moncada could be back in a week or two. And when he does return to the lineup, everyone can let out cheers instead of sighs of relief.