Moncada at peace knowing return is on the way

CHICAGO -- Yoán Moncada is making the trip back to Arizona to go full force on rehab work for his left adductor strain suffered in a game at Cleveland on April 9.

But aside from this task ahead of him, with the target of returning after the All-Star break, Moncada isn’t thinking much about his baseball future.

“My focus right now is to get back and stay healthy. Whatever happens after that is going to happen. I don’t have control over that,” said Moncada through interpreter Billy Russo Wednesday morning. “I feel in peace that I’m going to be able to come back this season, but I’m not happy or comfortable with what is going on.

“I prepared to play the full season and then unfortunately that won’t happen. But knowing that I’m coming back, it gives me peace.”

Playing that full season, or the 150-plus games suggested early on in Spring Training by Eloy Jiménez for himself, Moncada and Luis Robert Jr., won’t happen for any of them in 2024. Jiménez has returned from a left adductor strain suffered in Game 3 of the campaign and was in the White Sox lineup for Game 1 of a doubleheader with the Royals Wednesday.

Robert Jr., knocked out by a right hip flexor strain in the ninth inning of a loss at Kansas City on April 5, is making solid progress and could be back within six weeks of the injury. All three issues happened while the trio was running the bases, with Moncada and Jiménez taken down while running to first.

These are the sorts of medical problems leaving Moncada at a loss for a reason.

“It’s difficult to explain and to be honest with you, I don’t think there’s a reason,” Moncada said. I don’t think you can find a reason why this happened. I did everything that I was supposed to do during the offseason and during Spring Training and then something like this happened and the same with the other guys.

“We did everything we were supposed to do in order to play the whole season healthy. I don’t think you can find the reason why this happened.”

Moncada dealt with a level of pain never felt before in his nine-year Major League career but didn’t think he was done for the season. A season-ending injury could have meant the end of Moncada’s run in Chicago, with the White Sox holding a $25 million contractual option for ‘25 with a $5 million buyout as the final part of a five-year, $70 million deal.

Moncada’s eight seasons in Chicago have been characterized by stretches of productive on-field play, mixed with injuries, including the third baseman being limited to 92 games in ‘23 due to back pain. He has an easy, fluid way about him and has a low-key but outgoing personality, which some people judge as too laid back for the game or even a general indifference.

That depiction is not close to accurate about the 28-year-old switch-hitter, according to manager Pedro Grifol.

“A hundred percent he’s misunderstood, 100 percent. Perception, a lot of times, is not the reality,” Grifol said. “And in this case, he’s got that style of play that he does things easy. He’s a really good athlete, great athlete. And there’s just a way that he plays that some people enjoy watching and some people don’t. It’s not the traditional way where it looks like 100-percent effort all the time, right? But I can guarantee you he’s giving us effort.

“These guys are human. They might have some issues off the field, they might have them on the field, they might have some thoughts that are creeping in that attack a little bit of the confidence. You never know. ... And I think the perception for him, it’s not even close to being on point.”

Frustration comes from dealing with the injury for Moncada. It also comes from being sidelined while his team struggles mightily.

“Nobody wants to be in this position,” Moncada said. “That is what makes the whole situation harder because everybody prepares well for the game, is very prepared to perform, and then you don’t see the results? That’s the hardest part.”