McKenzie Matthew "Mickey" 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 The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

with the first overall pick of the

2016 MLB draft The 2016 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft began on June 9, 2016, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order is the reverse order of the 2015 MLB season standings. In addition, compensation picks will be d ...

, and made his MLB debut with them in 2020.

Amateur career

Moniak attended

La Costa Canyon High School La Costa Canyon High School (LCC) is a public high school located in Carlsbad, California. Established in 1996, it is a member of the San Dieguito Union High School District and serves the communities of Encinitas, south Carlsbad, Leucadia, Oliv ...

Carlsbad, California Carlsbad is a coastal city in the North County region of San Diego County, California, United States. The city is south of downtown Los Angeles and north of downtown San Diego. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 114,746. ...

, and played

center field A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the Baseball positions, baseball and softball fielding position between Left fielder, left field and Right fielder, right field. In the numberi ...

for the baseball team. As a sophomore, he batted .461 with two

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

, and 27 runs batted in (RBI). As a junior, in 2015, Moniak hit .426 with a 1.062 on-base plus slugging (OPS). That August, he played in the Perfect Game All-American Classic at

Petco Park Petco Park is a baseball stadium in Downtown San Diego, California. It is the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's San Diego Padres, and has also been used as a venue for concerts, soccer, golf, and rugby. The ballpark is located between Se ...

. In 2016, as a senior, Moniak batted .476 with a .961

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player, ...

and 40 runs, 12

triples TripleS (stylized as tripleS; Help:IPA/English, /ˈtɹɪpəl:ɛs/; ) is a South Korean girl group formed by MODHAUS. They aim to be the world's first decentralized K-pop idol group. The members will rotate between the group, sub-unit, and solo ac ...

(a San Diego Section record), seven home runs, and 46 RBI, in 29

games A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (such ...

. He was named ''

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' is a sports enterprise that covers baseball at every level, including MLB, with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in the MiLB, college, high school, and international leagues. It is currently published in the form o ...

'' High School Player of the Year, Gatorade California Baseball Player of the Year, and San Diego Section Player of the Year. Moniak committed to attend the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) to play college baseball for the UCLA Bruins.

Professional career

Philadelphia Phillies

Minor leagues

The Philadelphia Phillies selected Moniak with the first overall pick of the

. On June 20, 2016, he signed with the Phillies after agreeing to a $6.1 million

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

. Moniak made his professional debut with the Rookie-level

Gulf Coast Phillies The Florida Complex League Phillies are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. Prior to 2021, the team was known as the Gulf Coast League Phillies. The team plays ...

in 2016. 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 In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

(9th), in 176 at bats. ''Baseball America'' ranked Moniak the Number 17 prospect in baseball, and MLB.com ranked him Number 19. 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. ''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 Bo Joseph Bichette (born March 5, 1998) is an American professional baseball shortstop for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB). High school Bichette was home schooled, but competed in baseball for Lakewood High School in St. Pe ...

), and the high school player closest to making his major league debut. Moniak spent the 2018 season with the Class A-Advanced

Clearwater Threshers The Clearwater Threshers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. They are located in Clearwater, Florida, and have played their home games at BayCare Ballpark since 2 ...

. He hit .270/.304/.383 with 28 doubles (second in the

Florida State League The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following ...

), five home runs, 55 RBI, six stolen bases, and seven

sacrifice flies In baseball, a sacrifice fly (sometimes abbreviated to sac fly) is defined by Rule 9.08(d): "Score a sacrifice fly when, before two are out, the batter hits a ball in flight handled by an outfielder or an infielder running in the outfield in fair o ...

(tied for 5th) in 433 at bats in 114 games. In 2019, Moniak received an invitation to Phillies Major League spring training camp. 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. Moniak was selected to play in the Eastern League All-Star Game midway through the season. He was chosen to play in the Arizona Fall League for the Scottsdale Scorpions following the season.

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. That night, he made his MLB debut against the New York Mets as a ninth-inning

pinch runner In baseball, a pinch runner is a player substituted for the specific purpose of replacing another player on base. The pinch runner may be faster or otherwise more skilled at base-running than the player for whom the pinch runner has been sub ...

for Alec Bohm, at Citizens Bank Park. On September 18, 2020, Moniak roped a line drive into right field, a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

, for his first big league hit, in the second game of a doubleheader against the Toronto Blue Jays. 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 Ryan Christian Yarbrough (born December 31, 1991) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Tampa Bay Rays. The Seattle Mariners selected Yarbro ...

hit-by-pitch. He was instead placed on the injured list to begin the season, and was given a recovery timetable of six weeks.

Los Angeles Angels

On August 2, 2022, Moniak was traded alongside prospect Jadiel Sanchez to the Los Angeles Angels for starting pitcher

Noah Syndergaard Noah Seth Syndergaard (born August 29, 1992), nicknamed "Thor", is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the New York Mets, Los Angeles Angels an ...

. He made his Angels debut the next day, going 0-for-2 against the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

. 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 Bunt may refer to: * Bunt (community), an elite social group from Karnataka, India * Bunt (baseball), a batting technique in baseball * Bunt (sail), a part of a ship's sail * Bunt Island, island in Antarctica * The Bunt, nickname of the Bunting ...

. The following day, the injury was diagnosed as a fracture; however, he was not expected to miss the remainder of the season. He returned from the injury on September 9 and was platooned with Jo Adell. 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. Between the Phillies and the Angels, Moniak finished the 2022 season batting .170 with three home runs and eight RBIs in 37 games.

Personal life

Mickey Moniak’s grandfather, Bill Moniak, played six years in the Boston Red Sox organization.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Moniak, Mickey 1998 births Living people People from Encinitas, California Baseball players from San Diego Major League Baseball outfielders Philadelphia Phillies players Los Angeles Angels players Florida Complex League Phillies players Lakewood BlueClaws players Reading Fightin Phils players Clearwater Threshers players Scottsdale Scorpions players