Yoán Moncada could be the Angels' next third base black hole after mysterious injury

Third base has been a position of need for the Angels for the last several years. Ahead of the 2020 season, the club believed it had found a stalwart at the hot corner, signing the worst contract in MLB history with the oft-injured and never-performing Anthony Rendon.

The hope was that for the better part of the next decade, they'd have a star holding down the position who could be part of a core that propelled them to the status of perennial contenders. Instead, the position has become a revolving door.

On February 12th, it was announced that Rendon had undergone hip surgery and would be out indefinitely, code for unlikely to play at all in the 2025 season. Simultaneously, the team unearthed a new third base option, coming to terms on a one-year $5 million deal with Yoan Moncada, hoping the former top prospect could revitalize the position.

The addition was far from a slam dunk. The Cuban-born Moncada has a slightly more reliable track record than Rendon, however, it's nearly four years since his last truly productive season when he posted a 3.7 fWAR in 2021. Still, at only $5 million, the risk is worth the possible reward.

2024 was the nadir in Moncada's once-promising career. He was limited to just 12 games as a hip injury derailed his season before it could even leave the station. During the offseason, Moncada opted to shake off the rust in the Puerto Rican Winter League, before seeing that stint come to a premature end after he fouled a ball off of his foot.

A mysterious new ailment has put Yoan Moncada's opening-day status in doubt

Perhaps the Angels should have seen this coming. The near-season-long injury last year on top of significant missed time in 2022 and 2023, combined with the winter ball injury all should have foreshadowed what was coming down the pipe.

Moncada is now very questionable to be ready for opening day with a bruised thumb. While that comes on the heels of good news regarding fellow infielder Luis Rengifo's status after the latter dealt with a nagging hamstring issue, the nature of the injury raises doubt on the viability of Moncada being a productive player for the Halos this year.

Speaking to Jeff Fletcher of the OC Register, manager Ron Washington had this to say:

"Just one day, he came out there and the doc said that he hurt his thumb. That could happen many ways. He doesn’t even know. He just woke up one morning and his thumb was messed up. Might have been something that happened and it didn’t affect him till the next day. But it is a deep bruise, and he can’t throw. And he has trouble swinging the bat. When you’re swinging the bat, you’re pulling down on that, so you’ve got to be cautious."
Ron Washington via Jeff Fletcher

The randomness of the injury combined with the severity definitely gives off Rendon vibes. On top of that, Moncada got off to a slow start this spring, and while he turned it up a bit prior to this new malady, it never seemed like he found a rhythm posting a .190/.393/.381 line.

The freak injury opens the door for non-roster invitee veterans Tim Anderson and/or J.D. Davis to snag a roster spot, at least temporarily while the Angels await the return of star shortstop Zach Neto in addition to Moncada.

Still, it wouldn't be baseball season in Anaheim without serious questions surrounding the hot corner, and though Moncada was signed out of the bargain bin for a reason, it's starting to look like for yet another year there will be a revolving door at third base.

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