Chicago White Sox: Three young players to watch in 2018

2. Yoan Moncada

Aside from Jimenez and Robert, Moncada is, by far, the most important young cog for this offense moving forward. In fact, due to his inevitable positioning at the top of the lineup, he may well be the most instrumental player in this group.

If he’s rolling, he has the potential to set everyone else up to roll with him. And since Rick Renteria has tried him at the top of the White Sox’s batting order, he’s done just that.

Moncada finished with Spring Training with a .271/.358/.833 slash with three home runs and nine RBI. And once he got moved to the top of the order, he’s been lacing the ball all over the place, showing off the ability to square up the baseball as well as use his eye to take some walks (eight BB this spring).

Throw that in with how he finished off last season (.299 with an .882 OPS. in his final 21 games of 2018), and the signs for a breakout campaign in the big leagues are there.

He’s still young in terms of major league experience (just 218 at-bats), so his career .229 batting average shouldn’t really sour anyone just yet. He has all the tools, and we’re starting to see what it looks like when he puts them all together.

Right now, he’s projected to hit .251/.342/.772 with 11 home runs and 35 RBI in 2018. Obviously, those numbers are modest because of his prior production, and the average could stay around that point, perhaps.

But the power numbers, walks (35) and runs scored (43)? I’m taking the over on those.

I’m banking a bit on some potential here as well as another big season from Jose Abreu and Avisail Garcia in some regards. But with Moncada about to get his first extended shot in the big leagues, it’s time to start thinking big.