\n The White Sox’s Luis Robert Jr., left, greets Los Angeles Angels’ Yo\u00e1n Moncada before Sunday\u2019s game in Chicago.
\n AP\n <\/p>\n
Two former White Sox stars, returning to Chicago with the Los Angeles Angels for the first time, have encountered two very different receptions.<\/p>\n
For infielder Tim Anderson, the former AL batting champion on the South Side, it was nothing but cheers. He received a standing ovation before his first at-bat on Opening Day.<\/p>\n
For Yoan Moncada, who spent eight seasons with the White Sox, hearty boos have followed his every move.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was pretty cool,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cI feel like they were thankful for my time here. It\u2019s such a great city, such a great city to be in. They showed it (Thursday).\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s fans that love me, there\u2019s fans that hate me,\u201d Moncada said. \u201cBut I don\u2019t pay attention to it.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been an interesting homecoming for two players once believed to be the core of a White Sox team that was supposed to compete for championships annually.<\/p>\n
Instead, Anderson went from an All-Star in 2021 and 2022 to arguably the league\u2019s worst everyday hitter in 2023, recording just one homer in 123 games.<\/p>\n
Moncada\u2019s debilitating injuries took him from a super-prospect to a below-league-average hitter the last few seasons. That is, when he was actually on the field.<\/p>\n
The 29-year-old from Cuba had a modicum of redemption on Saturday, notching the only RBI in a 1-0 Angels win, though it came on an infield single. He also struggled with his throws defensively and forgot how many outs there were when running the bases.<\/p>\n
Still, it was a nice moment for a player in a city that had come to represent some of the toughest moments in his career.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s wonderful coming here to Chicago, facing my ex-team, and having the opportunity to get a hit here,\u201d Moncada said. \u201cIt feels wonderful.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before the opener, Anderson reflected on his ups and downs with the White Sox, particularly the rough end to his tenure.<\/p>\n
He appreciated the organization and his time there, noting he\u2019d spoken with the team\u2019s higher-ups during spring training.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will always be a huge part of me,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cIt\u2019s where I started. That chapter is all love. All love from me. I enjoyed my time here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Time will tell just how effective either player can be for the Angels. Anderson said the time off helped him regain strength in his lower body. Moncada similarly said he feels good and ready to go.<\/p>\n
But they will have to prove there\u2019s something still left in the tank. They\u2019re both relatively young and have, at one point, shown how well they can perform. Neither has hit a big-league homer since 2023, and both were castoffs by one of the least successful organizations in the sport over the last three years.<\/p>\n
The Angels also have infielder Yolmer S\u00e1nchez in their organization \u2014 another important piece of that old White Sox contingent. Chuckie Robinson, who caught much of last season in Chicago, is the Angels\u2019 third-string catcher.<\/p>\n
For the White Sox, Saturday\u2019s starting catcher was Matt Thaiss, the Angels\u2019 former first-round draft pick in 2016, who spent six years with the organization. They also have three former Angels coaches \u2014 Matt Wise, Marcus Thames and Drew Butera \u2014 on their staff. And former Angels manager Phil Nevin is in Chicago\u2019s front office.<\/p>\n
There is a lot of overlap between these two organizations, for better or worse. After all, they were the two worst teams in the American League last season. And the expectation is that they may well be again in 2025.<\/p>\n
Perhaps that plight could best be summed up by yet another overlapping player: Nicky Lopez. The utility man spent last season in Chicago as an everyday player on the team with the sport\u2019s worst-ever record.<\/p>\n
The Angels signed him to play all over the infield. He has gloves for nearly every position. However, he probably couldn\u2019t predict how he\u2019d make his debut with the new team. That was as a pitcher, getting the last out with the Angels down eight runs on Opening Day.<\/p>\n
The Angels will rely on a lot of former White Sox this year. Maybe, sometimes, in ways they didn\u2019t expect.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s ironic, for sure,\u201d said the Naperville-native Lopez of starting the season against his old team. \u201cIt is weird. It was a tough year, but to be able to come back here is kind of funny.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a9 2025 The Athletic Media Company. All Rights Reserved. Distributed by New York Times Licensing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The White Sox’s Luis Robert Jr., left, greets Los Angeles Angels’ Yo\u00e1n Moncada before Sunday\u2019s game in Chicago.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":155718,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2379],"tags":[5,138,49,2561,3893,4,3892,185,2462,12784,396,2562],"class_list":{"0":"post-155717","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-white-sox","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-chicago","10":"tag-chicago-white-sox","11":"tag-chicagowhitesox","12":"tag-content-providers","13":"tag-mlb","14":"tag-pro-sports","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-sports-leagues","17":"tag-the-athletic","18":"tag-white-sox","19":"tag-whitesox"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/114805486789230510","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=155717"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155717\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/155718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=155717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=155717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=155717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}