BOSTON -- Moncada Mania is coming to a big league ballpark near you.
With rosters set to expand, the Boston Red Sox announced late Wednesday night that they will call up top prospect Yoan Moncada from Double-A Portland. Moncada will join the team Friday in Oakland and will be added to the roster in time for the opener of a three-game series against the Athletics.
The move comes hours after Red Sox manager John Farrell made an enthusiastic case for why Moncada should join the team, comparing his potential boost to a playoff-contending team to the late-season call-ups of Jacoby Ellsbury and Xander Bogaerts in 2007 and 2013, respectively.
Farrell even strongly suggested Moncada could get the majority of the at-bats at third base, a position the 21-year-old played in Cuba but only recently took up in the minor leagues after signing last year as a second baseman.
"This is a different scenario than if it was July or the first of August, where you've got an alternate location to play," Farrell said Wednesday before the Red Sox's 8-6 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays. "The minor league season ends. So, is there a benefit by him just being here? The answer to that is yes. I think, by all accounts, there's nothing but positive that can come out of experience here if that were to happen."
Entering play Wednesday night, Moncada was batting .298 with 31 doubles, six triples, 15 homers, 45 stolen bases, a .411 on-base percentage and a .928 OPS in 400 at-bats between Class A Salem and Double-A Portland. Eleven of his homers came in 172 at-bats since a late June promotion to Double-A. He has rebounded from an ankle injury that sidelined him for eight days earlier this month.
Moncada also has made a relatively smooth transition to third base, according to the daily dispatches Farrell receives from Double-A manager Carlos Febles.
"He has shown good range; he's got a well-above-average arm," Farrell said. "Where there can be ongoing work and continued development is pretty much the same as when he was at second base, and that's the ball straight at him. That's more just pure technique and fundamental positioning of hands and feet. But as far as range to his glove side, moving over to third base, that has not seemingly been that big of a challenge for him."
And the Red Sox need help at third base, where they have posted the majors' third-worst OPS (.706). Travis Shaw struck out four times Tuesday night and is batting .189 with a .629 OPS and 36 strikeouts in 111 at-bats since the All-Star break. He already has lost playing time against left-handed pitchers, and when he doesn't play, Aaron Hill (.196 average, one homer, .512 OPS since being acquired in a July trade) isn't exactly lighting it up.
"We need better production," Farrell said. "I think if you were to ask any of those guys, they could concur."
At the very least, then, it seems Moncada will get fairly regular at-bats against right-handed pitching. The switch-hitter is batting .314 with a .993 OPS left-handed compared with .171/.710 from the right side. Don't be surprised, though, if Moncada plays an even greater role.
"As part of the conversation, we've talked about what's his strong side, how do you look to best ease him in, so to speak, protect a certain way," Farrell said. "Hell, we thought that with [rookie left fielder Andrew] Benintendi. Three games in, he blew the doors off of that."
Indeed, Moncada represents the second player whom the Red Sox have called up directly from Double-A within the past month. On Aug. 1, they recalled Benintendi, who batted .324 with six doubles, one triple, one homer, an .850 OPS and one homer-stealing catch before spraining his left knee last week and landing on the disabled list.
Last month, Febles told ESPN that Moncada is the most talented all-around player he has been around at the Double-A level since Carlos Beltran. Febles and Beltran were teammates in the Kansas City Royals organization, including in 1998 when Beltran batted .352 with 14 homers and seven steals in 47 games for Double-A Wichita.
If anything, Febles says, Moncada is more daring on the bases, unafraid to run against any pitcher in any situation.
"If a guy was 1.3 [seconds to the plate], Beltran would not go," Febles recalled. "Moncada's the other way around. He says, '1.3? I'm going.' Moncada's more aggressive than Beltran. But I think if you watch Beltran hit and Moncada hit, they both kind of have the same setup at the plate. It's a very, very similar kind of guy.
"Carlos was fast, great arm, power. The guy could do it all, and he just kept getting better and better and better every year. You see Moncada with the same kind of tools that Beltran had. He's a guy that can go to the big leagues and hit 20 homers like Carlos did at the beginning of his career and steal more bags than Carlos. I mean, why not think about that?"
The Red Sox invested $63 million in Moncada -- a $31.5 million signing bonus and a $31.5 million tax to Major League Baseball for exceeding their allotted bonus money for international signings.