Yoan Moncada isn’t an All-Star yet. But count Jose Abreu as someone who thinks he deserved to go to Cleveland.
From the right side, Moncada homered in the third inning to give the White Sox the lead in their 4-3 victory against the Twins on Sunday.
Moncada has a slash line of .304/.357/.528. He has 14 homers and 44 RBI and looks like he has moved on from a difficult 2018, when he struck out 217 times. He has struck out 87 times in 286 at-bats this season.
“The numbers speak for themselves,” Abreu said through a translator. “In his case, I still think that he deserves to be there. For whatever reason, he’s not there. But he’s an All-Star for me.”
Moncada’s improvement also has been apparent in the field.
After struggling at times at second base, Moncada moved to third, and his athleticism and reflexes have helped him adjust to the position.
“He has worked hard this whole season,” Abreu said. “He worked hard during the offseason. He has improved a lot. He learned from last year, and I think that we can see that on the field.”
Taking a series
This weekend was the Sox’ first series with the Twins since being swept by them May 24-26 by a combined score of 26-5. The victory Sunday gave the Sox the series win, something manager Rick Renteria didn’t downplay.
“I think they were resolute in trying to make sure they continued to compete and improve and get better,” Renteria said, “because once you start playing teams that are obviously putting themselves in good positions and winning, those are the clubs you want to continue to play against and measure yourself against.”
The Sox hit the halfway mark of the season 39-42 after going 28-53 through 81 games last year.
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