Yoan Moncada can comfortably call himself one of the richest MiLB players - and one of most hyped Minor League players - around. The Red Sox gave Moncada a $31.5 million signing bonus in March when he signed his minor league contract before he joined the club for extended Spring Training. Then - after having over a year off from any sort of organized baseball - Moncada made his professional debut on May 18th with the Low-A Greenville Drive

In the first month of his professional career, the so highly hyped 19 year-old Cuban definitely showed signs of the long lay off from baseball - posting a slash line in that month of .220/.312/.317, while also committing nine errors in his first 16 games. All these numbers were extremely alarming considering this is a player who Baseball America indicated to have more of an upside than Rusney Castillo and a better player than Yasmany Tomas

Moncada is an incredible talent, especially given his age. He is a 6-foot, 205 lbs switch-hitting infielder with plus speed and great athleticism. He has been playing second base for Greenville which is where he took a lot of his infield work during the extended Spring Training in Fort Myers. Though, it seems with Moncada's muscular build - along with the fact the Red Sox have Dustin Pedroia locked up through the 2021 season - the Cuban could be playing third base in the near future. A potentially elite five-tool superstar like Moncada could be you don't want wasting away in the Minors waiting for an opening at second base that might not come until seven years down the road. 

But before any of this happens Moncada needs to become more of a fundamentally sound infielder.

In an interview with WEEI, Greenville manager Darren Fenster said that he believed the errors would take care of themselves over time with Moncada's work and him becoming a more fundamentally sound second baseman. 

Fenster also noted that one of the biggest reasons Moncada was committing all these errors was because he was relying too much on his athletic ability instead of his fundamentals. 

"This is one of the better athletes that is in professional baseball right now," Fenster told WEEI. "And when you have a guy who is athletic as he is, sometimes those guys rely on their athletic ability to play. And that is a good thing, but also it’s a double edged sword from time to time as by relying on athletic ability you’re going to make mistakes on plays that you don’t need to be more than a fundamentally sound player."

Since his struggles in May, Moncada has come around to find that fundamental ability along with showing everybody why his hitting ability was such a raved about topic.

The Cuban has only committed five errors in 26 games since his nine in 16 games fiasco. The stat is still alarming but the sign of progress is a breath of fresh air. 

Moncada's bat has come alive as well. He has seen his season average rise up to .273 and in the month of July, Moncada has hit a slash line of .329/.429/.553/.982. A much more comforting number to look at as a Red Sox fan who saw their team spend $63 million to sign the, at the time, 19 year-old Cuban sensation. 

Even more of a gratifying stat is that Moncada has been showing off that plus speed. He has stolen 20 bases and has only been caught once. In the last 10 games, Moncada has also hit two of his five home runs on the season showing that power he is capable of could be progressing at a good clip. 

The Red Sox seem content at slowly working Moncada up through the farm system. There is no reason to rush a player who is still getting accustomed to playing baseball over here in the U.S

And from Yoan Moncada's recent performances in the last month it seems that the Cuban is finally starting to see himself get settled into American baseball.

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About the author
Karl  Capen
Head MLB Editor. Die hard sports fan and avid baseball guru. Follow me on Twitter @Capen316