Thomson trying to give Moniak a shot
Former No. 1 pick’s average dipped to .129 after going 0-for-3 in loss to Braves
PHILADELPHIA » If there ever was a Mickey Moniak moment for the Phillies since they made him their No. 1 overall pick in the MLB Draft back in 2016, it came Tuesday night at Citizens Bank Park.
In the first of a critical, threegame series against the Atlanta Braves, the very divisional rival that the Phils are chasing in the National League wild card race, the Phillies were down a run in the sixth inning with two outs but with the tying run on third.
With the Braves trading in starter Charlie Morton for lefty reliever Dylan Lee, Moniak’s No. 9 spot in the order was due, and surely interim manager Rob Thomson was going to call this modern Mick back to the dugout.
After all, left-swinging Moniak hasn’t been hitting his weight. He’s not even hitting the alleged weight he was as a 6-foot2, 185-pound just-graduate of La Costa Canyon High School when he was drafted. Now 24, Moniak’s struggles to stick in the major leagues have been well chronicled. But whether it’s the Phillies’ somewhat desperate situation with Bryce Harper on the shelf, or perhaps it’s his bosses giving him an agenda on Moniak, Thomson is showing he’s determined to make this latest attempt be a different one.
For this all-important at-bat in the sixth, he was going with Moniak all the way. One popout later, the rally was dead.
Thomson talked later of how Moniak had been 4-for-8 while facing Lee in the minors. But the thought remained that a move for either right-handed pinch-hitter Matt Vierling or Yairo Munoz or even newcomer Oscar Mercado would have fit the situation.
Instead, the move was made to boost Moniak’s confidence. Instead, the Phillies would lose 5-3. Moniak would go hitless in three trips to the plate, not driving in any of four runners that were on base during his plate appearances.
And yet, there was Moniak again, slotted in at the No. 9 position in the order Wednesday night in the series’ second game. He entered the game with a .143 batting average on this potentially make or break season. He left after going 0-for-3 with two strikeouts and another four baserunners stranded, his average dipping to .129 amid another Phillies loss to a team they have to beat.
“It’s a day by day thing,” Thomson said after a 4-1 Phillies loss that feature a second-straight nothing of a performance by Moniak. “You look at matchups and you think, ‘OK, are we giving him a chance on a day by day basis? You monitor the at-bats, you monitor the temperament and his mood; he says he’s upbeat, says he feels good, says he feels confident ... we think he’s going to produce at some point.”
Indeed, there is a special pressure that goes with No. 1 overall draft picks, especially on high-school aged No. 1s. And while there is a six-year distance between now and those halcyon draft days, Moniak has now played 40 career major league games to the tune of a .128 batting average and .394 OPS, with all of one home run and four RBIs to show for them.
“I want to see him get some consistent at-bats, as much as we can,” Thomson said. “We’ve got to keep Vierling in the mix, too and Odubel (Herrera) in the mix. But we’ve got to give Mickey a shot here.”
As for why he hasn’t had more of a shot to this point ... other than that little problem of hitting major league pitching?
“He got off to a rough start this year coming off the injury,” Thomson said, referring to a fractured wrist for Moniak on the last day of spring training. “Maybe we didn’t give him enough bats in the minor leagues, but he came up here and got off to a little bit of a slow start and it builds from there. But I think he’s a really good player and he’s got a lot of potential. I just want to get him comfortable and give him some reps and make sure we give him every opportunity.”
Part of Moniak’s problem is he hasn’t had much success hitting breaking balls at the highest levels, which of course means he’s fed a steady diet of them. His success against left-handers has been almost non-existent. There was optimism coming out of camp as Moniak, working hard with the club’s hitting coaches, had shown real signs of improvement in Grapefruit League action. But then he was hit with a pitch that left him with the right wrist fracture, and his season start would be delayed until late May.
After brief assignments in Clearwater and DoubleA Reading, Moniak landed with the Phils on May 30. By June 14 he was in TripleA Lehigh Valley. But there, his talent flashed. Overall in 81 minor league games this season, Moniak is hitting .346 with a 1.012 OPS.
That success did not follow him back down to Philadelphia.
“It’s really no different when I got to the minor leagues. There’s a lot of off-speed pitches,” Moniak said. “It’s just a matter of swinging at the right ones and taking the balls. If you’re swinging at strikes and taking balls you’re usually setting yourself up for success. It’s just getting comfortable, I think. The more ABs I have the more comfortable I’m going to be in the box and the more success I’ll have, even if they are throwing all breaking balls.”