CHICAGO -- For as much as we've talked about the White Sox's failed pursuit of Bryce Harper and Manny Machado this past offseason, their decision to place a $43 million bet on Eloy Jimenez before he'd even played a game at the highest level, and the tantalizing velocity and upside of the recuperating Michael Kopech, it, in large measure, could still come down to Yoan Moncada. 

"It" would be the Sox's ongoing and, some would say, belabored rebuilding process -- i.e., the future. It's too much to say anything in baseball hinges on a single player, and Moncada is no exception. Still, if we've forgotten how important he is to the White Sox's near-, mid-, and long-term fortunes, then Moncada reminded us in the 2019 home opener against the surging Mariners on Friday (CHW 10, SEA 8). 

Moncada of course was the central return piece of the December 2016 blockbuster that sent Chris Sale to Boston. Kopech would come over in that same deal, and the next day GM Rick Hahn would send Adam Eaton to the Nationals for Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez. The following winter the Sox inked Cuban phenom outfielder Luis Robert -- one major-league scout at the Mariners-White Sox game says he prefers Robert to Jimenez -- and that July they landed Jimenez in the Jose Quintana trade with the crosstown Cubs. 

Given that frenzied influx of young talent, it's easy to lose sight of Moncada. However, he still has the most upside of any of those foundational pieces. Back in early 2015 when the Red Sox were closing in on a deal with Moncada, who was one of the most coveted young free agents to come out of Cuba in some time, they had less than $2 million in international budget space. Boston, however, so coveted Moncada that they signed him to a $31.5 million bonus. Since they blew past their allotted budget by such an extent, they paid a 100 percent penalty on the overage. That's a $60 million investment in a 19-year-old who'd never played outside of Cuba's Serie Nacional. Moncada went on to be a consensus top-five overall prospect in 2016 and 2017 before the trade and his subsequent big-league debut with the White Sox in early September of 2016. 

Moncada entered this, his age-24 campaign, with a career line at the MLB level of .234/.319/.399 in 211 games. That's not bad necessarily -- a 97 OPS+ is hardly shameful for a young infielder -- but it's shy of what was expected from Moncada. It's still quite early in the 2019 season, but maybe Moncada is putting it together. 

Speaking of which, here's what he did in the first inning on Thursday against Yusei Kikuchi: 

That's a ringing double that just missed being a grand slam, and that was Moncada's sixth extra-base hit in as many games this season. 

Now let's jump ahead to the home half of the seventh. Again, it's Moncada with the bases loaded, but this time the White Sox are down a run. Seattle manager Scott Servais, knowing the switch-hitting Moncada has been less effective from the right side, goes to lefty Zac Rosscup. Along the way, Moncada lays off or fouls off four breaking balls until he gets a low fastball that leaks just a bit over the middle of the plate: 

That's another clutch knock for the Chicago third baseman. After the game, Moncada cited the value of getting his first full season behind him. "I'm in a much better place right now," he said after the contest. "And that's why I feel more comfortable on the field."

Speaking of which, here's what he's done through the first six games of the season: 

player headshot
Yoan Moncada
LAA • 3B • #5
2019
PA27
AVG.458
OBP.519
SLG.875
HR2
BB3
SO4
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It's obviously quite early, and we all know the hazards of making loud, fist-on-table conclusions based on small sample sizes. Moncada, though, is doing a few things that take on meaning pretty early. "My mindset is just to have fun, you know, hit the ball hard, and make contact," Moncada said. 

When it comes to having fun, we'll take him at his word. When it comes to the latter two objectives, he's doing just that. First, he's struck out in just 13 percent of his plate appearances this season, and that's after striking out 33.4 percent of the time in 2018. And, no, he's not sacrificing hard contact in favor of any contact at all. In fact, his current average exit velocity of 96.1 mph is in the top five percent of the league right now, and he's also increased his launch angle. 

"He's been having really good at-bats," teammate Jon Jay said of Moncada on Thursday. "You see him working pitches and swinging at strikes, and that's the name of the game. He's just doing a really good job of controlling the zone right now. He's not chasing pitches."

Relatedly, Moncada has reduced his swing rate on pitches outside the zone while increasing his swing rate on pitches in the strike zone. He's also increased his contact rate on all pitches, strikes or not. Things like this, which hint at approach changes and skills growth, start to matter even across an otherwise small sample. This is a young, tooled-up hitter who's learning what pitches he can handle and also learning how to tease out those pitches. He's also done this seemingly despite a position change and having already occupied three different sports in the batting order in 2019. All of this bodes very well for the future. 

The future of course is a word that matters very much to the White Sox, and although we've barely chipped at the 2019 schedule it's already looking brighter. That's because of Moncada's impressive work to date.