Mickey Moniak

McKenzie Matthew "Mickey" Moniak (born May 13, 1998) is an American professional baseball outfielder in the Philadelphia Phillies organization. Moniak was selected by the Phillies with the first overall pick of the 2016 MLB draft.

Mickey Moniak
Moniak playing for the Lakewood BlueClaws
Philadelphia Phillies
Outfielder
Born: (1998-05-13) May 13, 1998
Encinitas, California
Bats: Left Throws: Right

High school

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

In 2016, as a senior, he batted .476 with a .961 slugging percentage and 40 runs, 12 triples (a San Diego Section record), seven home runs and 46 RBIs in 29 games.[6][7][8] Moniak 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.[10]

Minor leagues

The 18-year-old Moniak was selected by the Philadelphia Phillies 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]

He made his professional debut with the Rookie-level Gulf Coast Phillies in 2016.[12] Moniak 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 RBIs (9th), and 10 stolen bases (9th) in 176 at bats.[13] Baseball America ranked him 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 RBIs, 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] He spent the 2018 season with the Class A-Advanced Clearwater Threshers. Moniak hit .270/.304/.383 with 28 doubles (second in the Florida State League), five home runs, 55 RBIs, six stolen bases, and seven sacrifice flies (tied for 5th) in 433 at bats in 114 games.[13]

Moniak received an invitation to begin spring training with the Phillies Major League camp at the start of the 2019 season.[18] He played the 2019 season with the Reading Fighting 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 RBIs (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 selected to play in the Arizona Fall League for the Scottsdale Scorpions following the season.[22]

Personal life

His grandfather, Bill Moniak, played six years in the Boston Red Sox organization.[23][8]

References
  1. Belinsky, Hudson. "CONFIDENCE, COMPOSURE DEFINE MONIAK". Baseball America. Retrieved June 3, 2016.
  2. Maffei, John (June 26, 2014). "LCC's Mickey Moniak state's top soph". The San Diego Union Tribune. Retrieved June 3, 2016.
  3. "Gatorade National POY Watch: UCLA baseball commit Mickey Moniak living up to legendary first name".
  4. Thiele, Brie. "Two local prep athletes play in Perfect Game All-American Classic".
  5. "JayParis: LCC's Moniak is making his mark off the diamond, too – The Coast News Group".
  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. Phillies select Mickey Moniak with No. 1 pick of MLB draft | krem.com
  8. La Costa Canyon's Moniak is No. 1 MLB draft pick - Encinitas Advocate
  9. Mickey Moniak, Adam Haseley Continuing To Adjust in 2018
  10. Petzold, Evan. "Interview: Mickey Moniak, A UCLA Commit".
  11. Zolecki, Todd. "#1 pick Mickey Moniak signs with Phillies". MLB. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
  12. "Top Draft pick Moniak singles in pro debut". MiLB.com.
  13. "Mickey Moniak Stats, Highlights, Bio - MiLB.com Stats - The Official Site of Minor League Baseball". MiLB.com.
  14. 2016 top pick Mickey Moniak doing just fine - Minor League Ball
  15. South Atlantic (A) Leaderboards » 2017 » Batters » Standard Statistics | FanGraphs Baseball
  16. Phillies: Mickey Moniak Receives High-Praise From Baseball America | FOX Sports
  17. How Moniak, the Phillies graded out in Baseball America's Draft report card | PhillyVoice
  18. Macy, Evan (January 23, 2019). "Phillies first rounders Mickey Moniak, Adam Haseley inching ever closer to making big leagues". PhillyVoice.com. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
  19. "2019 Eastern League Batting Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. 1970-01-01. Retrieved 2019-10-04.
  20. Drago, Mike (April 3, 2019). "Mickey Moniak hopes to continue rise with Fightin Phils". Reading Eagle.
  21. "Mickey Moniak among four Reading Fightin Phils players named to All-Star team". Reading Eagle. June 25, 2019. Retrieved June 26, 2019.
  22. Josh Norris (2019-08-28). "2019 Arizona Fall League Rosters Announced". Baseballamerica.com. Retrieved 2019-10-04.
  23. "Throwback Moniak: San Diego's Mickey Moniak a hit as Brave tops United 2–0".
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