Yoan Moncada adds to his hot spring with a home run off Cole Hamels

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Yoan Moncada is teasing White Sox fans of a potential breakout season.

It's just spring training so take any success in the Arizona heat with a grain of salt, but Moncada added to his hot spring with a three-run blast off Cole Hamels on Friday.

Also take note of the mini Sammy Sosa-esque hop that Moncada showed off after hitting it. It doesn't look close enough to Sosa's signature move to be an ode or a diss, but Moncada did show a little extra excitement in his step after connecting with what he knew was a home run ball.

Moncada went 1-for-2 with a walk and the home run on Friday. That was his second home run of the spring and he is hitting .379/.486/.724 in 11 Cactus League games.

Moncada hadn't played in the Cactus League since March 10, but he also homered in that game.

He is still striking out plenty with 10 in 35 plate appearances, but even that strikeout rate (28.6 percent) is lower than his career MLB strikeout rate (33.6 percent).

Success in spring is nothing new for Moncada. In 2017, before he debuted with the White Sox, he hit .317/.391/.683. Last spring he posted a less spectacular, but still solid line of .271/.358/.475. So there's no reason to get especially excited that this season's spring will translate to success in the majors, but it's probably better to have success in spring than not.

 

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