DENVER -- Mickey Moniak didn’t give his right ankle a chance to heal when it was hurting in 2024. The Colorado Rockies outfielder was more cautious when he injured it in Pittsburgh on May 12.
Moniak, who went on the 10-day injured list on May 22 with right ankle tendonitis, was activated Monday ahead of Colorado's three-game series against the Red Sox. He wasn’t in manager Warren Schaeffer’s starting lineup, but he delivered a pinch-hit single in the eighth before the Rockies walked it off in the ninth for a 3-2 win.
“Everybody's excited to have Mick back,” Schaeffer said.
Especially Moniak, who finished his second stint on the injured list this season. He missed the first week of the season with a right ring finger sprain and made an instant impact when he made his 2026 debut on April 3.
The 2016 No. 1 overall pick hit .315 with eight home runs in April, but his production dropped off after he ran into the wall in Pittsburgh. He was 2-for-23 (.087) in his last eight games before being placed on the IL.
He is ready to go after a three-game rehab stint with Triple-A Albuquerque where he hit .077 with one double and a run scored in 13 at-bats.
“I'd say [the ankle] is just about 100 percent,” Moniak said. “I think that gave it a good time off. Definitely glad I did. Obviously, going on the IL is never fun, but I think the rest and the recovery was obviously needed.”
He learned from 2024, when he was with the Los Angeles Angels. Moniak said he played that season on an injured ankle and it showed -- he batted .219 in 124 games and was released by the Angels on March 25, 2025.
“With that injury, I played on it all of 2024. It didn't go great, obviously,” Moniak said. “The biggest thing was catching it early so that I didn’t create any bad habits or start compensating or make it worse, which is kind of what was happening over the 10 days after aggravating it.”
Colorado signed him two days after Los Angeles released him and he responded with career highs in games (135), home runs (24) and RBIs (68) for the Rockies. Despite his two injuries, Moniak is off to another good start in ‘26, batting .280 with a .942 OPS and 12 homers in 43 games.
Outfielder Sterlin Thompson was optioned to Triple-A to make room for Moniak on the 26-man roster. Thompson, who made his Major League debut on May 15, batted .232 with two home runs and 10 RBIs in 27 games for Colorado.
“Sterlin did a very nice job while he was up here,” Schaeffer said. “Kudos to Sterlin Thompson.”