White Sox third baseman to miss significant time with lower-body injury

The White Sox announced that third baseman Yoan Moncada has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a left adductor strain, with outfielder Oscar Colas recalled in a corresponding move. The club estimates that Moncada will miss 3-6 months.

Moncada, 29 in May, has been playing through this injury of late. Manager Pedro Grifol said Tuesday, per Henry Palattella of MLB.com, that the issue has been nagging Moncada for three or four days but that he was "doing a really good job maintaining it.” That line of thinking blew up Tuesday night when Moncada collapsed while running out a groundout and had to be assisted off the field. In hindsight, it looks to have been a poor decision for him to have stayed on the field.

He has occasionally been an excellent player for the White Sox on both sides of the ball, providing strong defense at the hot corner and a quality bat at the plate. He showed that form as recently as the 2021 season when he hit 14 home runs and drew a walk in 13.6% of his plate appearances. His .263/.375/.412 batting line led to a wRC+ of 120 and his glovework earned three Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average considered him to be right at league par.

But injuries have largely gotten in the way since then. He has gone on the IL due to a right oblique strain, a right hamstring strain, a left hamstring strain and lingering lower back issues over 2022 and 2023 and now this left adductor strain has him on the injured list again. He’s played just 207 games since the end of 2021 and has hit .236/.292/.387  in that time for a wRC+ of 88.

He is in the final guaranteed year of the extension he signed with the club prior to 2020, a pact worth $70M over five years, which would have made him a potential trade candidate on a rebuilding White Sox club this summer. His continued struggles would have tamped down his trade value, especially as he’s making $24M this year, but this most recent injury may keep him on the IL past the deadline.

It’s now possible that Moncada has played his last game as a member of the White Sox. His contract has a $25M option for 2025 but the Sox are almost certainly leaning towards the $5M buyout at this point. If this injury pushes towards the longer end of that projected time frame, he may not be able to make it back to the club by the end of the season.

In the short term, the outlook will become increasingly grim for the 2024 White Sox. They weren’t expected to compete this year after kicking off a rebuild last season, but it’s still not pretty to see them limp out to a 2-9 start. Some of their most established players have already hit the injured list, with Luis Robert Jr. facing a significant absence due to a Grade 2 hip flexor strain. Eloy Jimenez is on the IL due to an adductor strain and now Moncada joins him with the same ailment.

With Moncada out and the Sox not bringing up another infielder, it’s unclear how they plan to cover Moncada’s absence. They have been using three infielders to cover the two middle infield spots, with Braden Shewmake, Paul DeJong and Nicky Lopez in that rotation. Neither Shewmake nor DeJong have third base experience, but Lopez does. Lenyn Sosa is also on the roster and has experience at the three infield spots to the left of first base. Danny Mendick and Zach Remillard are in Triple-A, each in a non-roster capacity, though Moncada’s injury means he’s destined to be moved to the 60-day IL as part of a future transaction.