Yoan Moncada Wins Futures Game MVP Award

SAN DIEGO—For the first time in seven years, the World team won the Futures Game. And the player who gave them the lead for the first time was the most talked-about player on either roster.

That would be Yoan Moncada, the Cuban second baseman who ranks as Baseball America’s No. 1 prospect and is in the middle of tearing up the minor leagues with the Red Sox. His home run in the eighth inning of the Diamondbacks’ Anthony Banda gave his team its first lead and opened the floodgates.

After taking the lead in the eighth, the World team tacked on seven more runs in the ninth inning to turn a close game into a blowout.

For his home run—his first against a lefthanded pitcher this year—Moncada was given the game’s most valuable player award.

“I’m really happy and really emotional to get the MVP,” Moncada said toward the end of the evening, just before he was scheduled to head to the airport to make his way back to Double-A Portland.

Hitting is never easy, but it can be particularly difficult when you’ve never faced the pitcher before. That was the case with Moncada and Banda, so Moncada didn’t look for a particular pitch. Rather, he stayed ready to hit in case he saw something he liked.

Around the game, Moncada is obviously a known commodity. The Red Sox gave him a $31.5 million bonus and then spent that amount again as a tax for going over their international bonus pool. A $63 million outlay even before your first professional game tends to get some attention.

Then, of course, there’s his play on the field. He started slowly in low Class A Greenville when he first moved from Boston’s minor league complex to a full-season affiliate, but turned it on after the South Atlantic League all-star break. Since then, he’s done nothing but produce.

This season, which started in high Class A Salem with outfielder Andrew Benintendi and third baseman Rafael Devers—Boston’s representative on this year’s U.S squad and its representative on last year’s World team, respectively—Moncada has hit .312/.415/.532 with nine home runs, 49 RBIs and 40 stolen bases.

“I saw him last year in the Sally League with Greenville, and he was impressive then,” said Jose Leger, who manages the Mets’ low Class A affiliate in Columbia and was a coach on this year’s World squad. “I think he’s ready to make the move (to the big leagues) almost. He’s knocking on the door.”

Leger has seen progress in Moncada from last year to Sunday, when he showed off his talent in a major league park for the first time. The transition, he says, took a little time, but once Moncada got comfortable, it was easy to see the reason for the hype.

“I saw him early in the year (in 2015). He was a little anxious just to prove to everybody that he was the kind of player that he’s becoming now,” Leger said. “It was just the fact that he wanted to do so much and wanted everybody to see the results in the moment.

“Once the season wore on, the plate discipline improved and he just became a better player in the second half. “

Mets shortstop prospect Amed Rosario, himself one of the best prospects in the game, is also in the Eastern League, with the Mets’ Double-A Binghamton squad. Their teams haven’t faced each other yet, but will do so on July 21 at Portland’s Hadlock Field.

Like everyone else, Rosario was ecstatic when he saw Moncada make contact with Banda’s pitch and give their team the late lead.

“It was a tremendous feeling,” he said. “Just before that we were talking about how if he hit it out it’d be pretty cool and right after that he hit the ball, so that was pretty cool.”

Now, though, their time as teammates is over, and he’s looking forward to using what he’s learned about Moncada to help his teammates back in Binghamton get him out the next time they meet.

“Now, being around him first-hand, I kind of have a knowledge of which pitches he likes and a which pitches to stay away from,” Rosario said. “Now, hopefully, I’ll be able to help out my team moving forward.”

The pitchers back with Binghamton will surely welcome any advice Rosario has about Moncada’s weaknesses. If the past few months are any indication, it hasn’t been easy to find one.