Mickey Moniak is not about to tell Philadelphians, “I told you so.” Carrying a chip on his shoulder is not what he’s about.
“No regrets, I try to live in the moment,” the Rockies outfielder said.
Moniak returns to the City of Brotherly Love this weekend, playing like an All-Star 10 years after the Phillies selected him with the first overall pick in the Major League Draft.
“Look, I spent seven years of my life in that organization,” he said. “I’m grateful whenever I go back. Those were formative years in my life, and I always say that I grew up into a man in Philly. It’s helped me get to where I am today — the good and the bad.”
The good is right now. He enters the Rockies’ three-game series with a 1.0671 OPS, best in the National League. His 11 home runs are tied for second in the NL.
Moniak, who turns 28 next Wednesday, had hit safely in 18 consecutive games until going 0 for 3 in Colorado’s dramatic 6-2 win over the Mets on Thursday. During his streak, tied for the longest of his career, he’s slashed .371/.429/.757 with six home runs, seven doubles, and a triple.
New York Mets third baseman Brett Baty (7) fields the throw as Colorado Rockies left fielder Mickey Moniak (22) slides into third base with a triple in the eighth inning of a baseball game Monday, May 4, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
“Mickey’s just really playing well, and you can tell that he’s loose and playing comfortably,” manager Warren Schaeffer said. “He’s just proving that, day after day, he’s a really good ballplayer.”
The bad, at least from a baseball perspective, was his fall from grace in Philadelphia.
When the Phillies picked him No. 1, Moniak was an 18-year-old left-handed-hitting phenom from La Costa Canyon High School in Carlsbad, Calif. He batted .476 with seven home runs and 12 triples in his senior season and was named the 2015-16 Gatorade California Baseball Player of the Year. There were media projections that he could be the next Christian Yelich.
But it didn’t work out. Moniak made his big-league debut during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. Then he rode the elevator between Triple-A and the majors from 2020-22, appearing in just 47 games for the Phillies. Moniak posted a .129/.214/.172 slash line across 105 total plate appearances, and the Philadelphia media labeled him one of the Phillies’ biggest draft busts. The fans let him have it.
“I got booed plenty of times,” Moniak said. “It’s part of it. They booed Bryce (Harper) when he won MVP (in 2021). It didn’t matter. If you’re not performing, they boo you. It’s part of playing in that city. The flip side of it is that if you’re playing well, they cheer as loud as anybody. It’s how they are wired on the East Coast.”
Moniak is a California kid, but he spent plenty of time back East, so he gets it.
“I have so many relatives from back there, kind of with the same personality,” he said, laughing. “It’s real, in your face, no filter. I love it. It’s in our blood.”
Moniak’s Philly experience ended at the 2022 trade deadline, when he was shipped to the Angels along with minor-league outfielder Jadiel Sanchez in exchange for starting pitcher Noah Syndergaard.
“At the time, the Phillies were competing for a World Series, and I was a 22-year-old kid who didn’t get off to the hottest of starts,” Moniak said. “Looking back, I may have been overmatched, at times, but they didn’t have the luxury of giving me 100 at-bats to see if I could figure it out.”
Still, Moniak admits to wondering if his big-league dreams were dying on the vine.
“There were times when it crept in, for sure, but that’s what I have my family for, that’s what I have my wife for,” he said. ” Sophia is always there to pick me up. And I talk to my dad (Matt Moniak) every day on my ride to the field.”
Moniak had a middling 2 1/2 seasons with the Angels, hitting .242 with 31 home runs over 228 games. The Angels released him at the end of last year’s spring training, and former Rockies general manager Bill Schmidt swooped in and signed him just before Opening Day to a one-year, $1.25 million contract. His .270/.306/.518 slash line with 24 home runs during his first season with Colorado earned him a one-year, $4 million contract to avoid arbitration.
Moniak has one year of arbitration remaining before he’s eligible to become a free agent after the 2027 season. But he says he’s found a home in Colorado.
“The most enjoyable part is seeing the transition in the organization from last year to this year,” he said. “We are, obviously, not where we want to be right now, but you can see things turning in the right direction.”
Moniak has become one of the Rockies’ most popular players in the clubhouse.
“He is so full of optimism and always ready for what’s next; next game, next at-bat, next whatever,” first baseman/outfielder Troy Johnston said. “It’s so important to have a teammate like that, someone to look up to. If you’re having a bad game or whatever, you can go to him, and he’s always ready to pump you up. You need that in this sport. There are 162 games; it’s a grind. That optimism is so important.”
Moniak has loved baseball since he was a toddler. His grandfather, Bill Moniak, played in the minors for six seasons and got hitting lessons from Ted Williams during spring training. His dad played college baseball at San Diego State.
Baseball was Moniak’s obsession, but once he struggled in the majors, he realized he needed to find some balance.
“There were definitely times when it felt like baseball was everything, and when things weren’t going the right way, it seemed like the end of the world,” he said. “So I took a step back and was just grateful for what I have; grateful for the plan God has for me. God gave me a gift to play baseball, and I know I can be damn good at it. So I’ve stopped worrying about what could happen, and I just go out there and play.”
Want more Rockies news? Sign up for the Rockies Insider to get all our MLB analysis.