Mickey Moniak
Moniak playing for the Lakewood BlueClaws in 2017
Los Angeles Angels – No. 16
Outfielder
Born: (1998-05-13) May 13, 1998 (age 25)
Encinitas, California, U.S.
Bats: Left
Throws: Right
MLB debut
September 16, 2020, for the Philadelphia Phillies
MLB statistics
(through 2023 season)
Batting average.245
Home runs18
Runs batted in56
Teams
Medals
Men's baseball
Representing  United States
U-18 Baseball World Cup
Gold medal – first place 2015 Osaka Team

McKenzie Matthew Moniak (born May 13, 1998) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB). Moniak was selected by the Philadelphia Phillies with the first overall pick of the 2016 MLB draft, and made his MLB debut with them in 2020.

Amateur career

Moniak attended La Costa Canyon High School in Carlsbad, California, and played center field for the baseball team.[1] As a sophomore, he batted .461 with two home runs, and 27 runs batted in (RBI).[2] As a junior, in 2015, Moniak hit .426 with a 1.062 on-base plus slugging (OPS).[3] That August, he played in the Perfect Game All-American Classic at Petco Park.[4][5]

In 2016, as a senior, Moniak batted .476 with a .961 slugging percentage and 40 runs, 12 triples (a San Diego Section record), seven home runs, and 46 RBI, in 29 games.[6][7][8] He was named Baseball America High School Player of the Year, Gatorade California Baseball Player of the Year, and San Diego Section Player of the Year.[9][7][8] Moniak committed to attend the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) to play college baseball for the UCLA Bruins.[10]

Professional career

Philadelphia Phillies

Minor leagues

The Philadelphia Phillies selected Moniak with the first overall pick of the 2016 MLB draft.[8] On June 20, 2016, he signed with the Phillies after agreeing to a $6.1 million signing bonus.[11]

Moniak made his professional debut with the Rookie-level Gulf Coast Phillies in 2016.[12] He spent all of his first professional season there, batting .284/.340/.409 with 27 runs (10th in the Gulf Coast League), 11 doubles (tied for 9th), four triples (tied for 8th), one home run, 28 RBI (9th), and 10 stolen bases (9th), in 176 at bats.[13] Baseball America ranked Moniak the Number 17 prospect in baseball, and MLB.com ranked him Number 19.[14]

Moniak spent 2017 with the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws, with whom he batted .236/.284/.341 with six triples (tied for 5th in the South Atlantic League), five home runs, 44 RBI, 11 stolen bases, and seven sacrifice flies (tied for 2nd) in 466 at bats in 123 games.[15] Baseball America named him the best defensive player of his draft class, the second-best pure hitter (behind Nick Senzel), the second-best high school player (behind Bo Bichette), and the high school player closest to making his major league debut.[16][17] Moniak spent the 2018 season with the Class A-Advanced Clearwater Threshers. He hit .270/.304/.383 with 28 doubles (second in the Florida State League), five home runs, 55 RBI, six stolen bases, and seven sacrifice flies (tied for 5th) in 433 at bats in 114 games.[13]

In 2019, Moniak received an invitation to Phillies Major League spring training camp.[18] He played the 2019 season with the Reading Fightin Phils of the Class AA Eastern League, batting .252/.303/.439 with 63 runs (9th in the league), 28 doubles (6th), 13 triples (leading the league), 11 home runs, 67 RBI (tied for 4th), 111 strikeouts (10th), and 15 stolen bases in 18 attempts in 465 at bats.[19][20] Moniak was selected to play in the Eastern League All-Star Game midway through the season.[21] He was chosen to play in the Arizona Fall League for the Scottsdale Scorpions following the season.[22]

Major leagues

On September 16, 2020, Moniak was added to the Phillies’ 40-man roster, and was promoted to the major leagues for the first time.[23] That night, he made his MLB debut against the New York Mets as a ninth-inning pinch runner for Alec Bohm, at Citizens Bank Park.[24] On September 18, 2020, Moniak roped a line drive into right field, a single, for his first big league hit, in the second game of a doubleheader against the Toronto Blue Jays.[25]

On April 21, 2021, Moniak hit his first major league home run in the 2nd inning against Anthony DeSclafani of the San Francisco Giants.

After a strong Spring Training in 2022, it was announced that Moniak had made the Phillies’ Opening Day roster. However, Moniak suffered a right hand fracture in the final exhibition game against the Tampa Bay Rays on a Ryan Yarbrough hit-by-pitch. He was instead placed on the injured list to begin the season, and was given a recovery timetable of six weeks.[26]

Los Angeles Angels

On August 2, 2022, Moniak was traded alongside prospect Jadiel Sanchez to the Los Angeles Angels for starting pitcher Noah Syndergaard.[27] He made his Angels debut the next day, going 0-for-2 against the Oakland Athletics. In his first week with the Angels, Moniak went 4-for-14 (.286) with a pair of home runs in five games. On August 6, during a game against the Seattle Mariners, Moniak injured his left middle finger while attempting to bunt. The following day, the injury was diagnosed as a fracture; however, he was not expected to miss the remainder of the season.[28] He returned from the injury on September 9 and was platooned with Jo Adell.[29] On September 28, Moniak was hit on the hand by a pitch in a game against the Athletics. Although X-rays returned negative, the Angels placed him on the injured list, sidelining him for the final seven games of the season.[30] Between the Phillies and the Angels, Moniak finished the 2022 season batting .170 with three home runs and eight RBIs in 37 games.[31]

Moniak was optioned to the Triple-A Salt Lake Bees to begin the 2023 season.[32] He was recalled from Salt Lake on May 12, 2023, hitting .280 with fourteen home runs and forty-five RBIs in eighty-five games.

Personal life

Mickey Moniak's grandfather, Bill Moniak, played six years in the Boston Red Sox organization.[33][8]

References

  1. ^ Belinsky, Hudson (January 14, 2016). "Confidence, Composure Define Moniak". baseballamerica.com. Baseball America. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
  2. ^ Maffei, John (June 26, 2014). "LCC's Mickey Moniak state's top soph". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  3. ^ "Gatorade National POY Watch: UCLA baseball commit Mickey Moniak living up to legendary first name". usatodayhss.com. USA Today. April 21, 2016. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
  4. ^ Thiele, Brie (August 17, 2015). "Two local prep athletes play in Perfect Game All-American Classic". foxsports.com. Fox Sports. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  5. ^ Paris, Jay (August 14, 2015). "LCC's Moniak is making his mark off the diamond, too". thecoastnews.com. The Coast News. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
  6. ^ Kenney, Kirk (June 9, 2016). "Phillies take La Costa's Moniak No. 1 in draft". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved May 6, 2018.
  7. ^ a b "Phillies select Mickey Moniak with No. 1 pick of MLB draft". usatoday.com. USA Today. June 9, 2016. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  8. ^ a b c d Maffei, John (June 16, 2016). "La Costa Canyon's Moniak is No. 1 MLB draft pick". encinitasadvocate.com. Encinitas Advocate. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  9. ^ Norris, Josh (March 25, 2018). "Mickey Moniak, Adam Haseley Continuing To Adjust in 2018". baseballamerica.com. Baseball America. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
  10. ^ Petzold, Evan (February 28, 2015). "Interview: Mickey Moniak, A UCLA Commit". vavel.com. Vavel. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
  11. ^ Zolecki, Todd (June 20, 2016). "#1 pick Mickey Moniak signs with Phillies". MLB.com. Major League Baseball. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
  12. ^ Parker, John (June 29, 2016). "Top Draft pick Moniak singles in pro debut". MiLB.com. Minor League Baseball. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  13. ^ a b "Mickey Moniak Stats, Highlights, Bio". MiLB.com. Minor League Baseball. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  14. ^ Feltman, Asher (July 26, 2017). "2016 top pick Mickey Moniak doing just fine". minorleagueball.com. SB Nation. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
  15. ^ "South Atlantic (A) Leaderboards » 2017 » Batters » Standard Statistics". fangraphs.com. FanGraphs. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
  16. ^ Stockburger, George (October 18, 2016). "Phillies: Mickey Moniak Receives High-Praise From Baseball America". thatballsouttahere.com. FanSided. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  17. ^ Lawrence, Ryan (October 17, 2016). "How Moniak, the Phillies graded out in Baseball America's Draft report card". phillyvoice.com. PhillyVoice. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
  18. ^ Macy, Evan (January 23, 2019). "Phillies first rounders Mickey Moniak, Adam Haseley inching ever closer to making big leagues". phillyvoice.com. PhillyVoice. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
  19. ^ "2019 Eastern League Batting Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
  20. ^ Romero, Mike (April 3, 2018). "Mickey Moniak hopes to continue rise with Fightin Phils". readingeagle.com. Reading Eagle. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  21. ^ "Mickey Moniak among four Reading Fightin Phils players named to All-Star team". readingeagle.com. Reading Eagle. June 25, 2019. Retrieved June 26, 2019.
  22. ^ Norris, Josh (August 28, 2019). "2019 Arizona Fall League Rosters Announced". baseballamerica.com. Baseball America. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
  23. ^ Byrne, Connor (September 16, 2020). "Phillies Place Jake Arrieta On 10-Day IL". mlbtraderumors.com. MLB Trade Rumors. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
  24. ^ "New York Mets 5, Philadelphia Phillies 4 Box Score". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. September 16, 2020. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  25. ^ Seidman, Corey (September 18, 2020). "Mickey Moniak ropes first big-league hit vs. Blue Jays". nbcsports.com. NBC Sports. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  26. ^ "Spring star Mickey Moniak out 6 weeks with broken right hand". nbcsports.com. Retrieved January 15, 2023.
  27. ^ "Phillies trade for Thor, send Moniak to Angels". MLB.com. MLB Advanced Media. August 2, 2022. Retrieved August 2, 2022.
  28. ^ "Angels' Mickey Moniak: Breaks finger, not done for season". CBSSports.com. Paramount Global. August 7, 2022. Retrieved October 1, 2022.
  29. ^ "Angels' Jo Adell: Fades into platoon role". CBSSports.com. Paramount Global. September 14, 2022. Retrieved October 1, 2022.
  30. ^ "Angels' Mickey Moniak: Placed on injured list". CBSSports.com. Paramount Global. September 29, 2022. Retrieved October 1, 2022.
  31. ^ "Mickey Moniak Stats". Baseball Reference. Retrieved October 1, 2022.
  32. ^ "Angels' Mickey Moniak: Optioned to Triple-A". cbssports.com. Retrieved March 25, 2023.
  33. ^ Persinger, Mike (June 24, 2015). "Throwback Moniak: San Diego's Mickey Moniak a hit as Brave tops United 2–0". usabaseball.com. USA Baseball. Archived from the original on September 9, 2015. Retrieved September 18, 2020.

External links

Los Angeles Angels current roster
Major League Baseball number one overall draft picks
2016 Major League Baseball draft first round selections
Philadelphia Phillies first-round draft picks
Categories