Top prospect Yoan Moncada may soon make his debut for the Boston Red Sox.
Manager John Farrell strongly hinted on Wednesday that Moncada would join the team in September and may play third base.
“We’ve talked about Yoan, and not just as a pinch-runner,” Farrell said, via Rob Bradford of WEEI. “It’s an exciting young player. Extremely talented guy. There’s all positive reviews and evaluations of him. When that major league experience is going to initiate, time with tell that. But in terms of playing the position of third base, yes, that conversation has been had.”
Farrell even went as far as to compare the boost Moncada could bring to the one brought by Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury when they were first called up by the team.
“The one thing for those who have been around this team for a number of years, teams that have had success have always had an injection of young players late in the season that have helped carry the team to the postseason,” Farrell said. “I think Yoan would be in a similar category for when Pedey [Dustin Pedroia] and Jake [Jacoby Ellsbury] came to the big leagues. When Bogey [Xander Bogaerts] came to the big leagues. And [Andrew] Benintendi is obviously already here. I wouldn’t separate him out from that comparison at all. In fact, he’s a direct comparison.”
Farrell sounds extremely bullish on Moncada’s impact. We’ve already seen the impact that fellow rookie Benintendi had on the team, and Moncada would have a similar impact as the Red Sox try to clinch a playoff spot.
