DENVER -- Mickey Moniak's performance for nearly a month and his trajectory this season with the Rockies suggest an evolved thought process.
It’s the opposite.
“I would say less thinking,” Moniak said. “When you’re in the batting cage, that’s where you are thinking about what your hands are doing, your swing, stuff like that -- at least for the first part of it. The second half of cage work, I go out there like I’m in the game, and once I’m in the game, I try to have nothing in my head.”
The head may be empty, but Moniak is filling up the box scores. His three-run homer in the fifth inning off Brandon Pfaadt powered the Rockies to a 4-2 victory over the Diamondbacks on Sunday afternoon at Coors Field.
From May 25 through Saturday, before Sunday’s 1-for-4 showing at the plate as the Rockies averted being swept in the three-game series, Moniak’s 1.194 OPS and .808 slugging percentage in 53 plate appearances led the Majors. It’s a hot streak that many envisioned in 2016, when the Phillies selected him with the first overall pick in the MLB Draft out of La Costa Canyon High School in Carlsbad, Calif.
The home run was Moniak’s 11th of the season, but the eighth in his last 18 games. With five of those occurring at Coors Field, it means Moniak has shown the ability to carry his power swing on the road -- something the Rockies need.
Moniak never found the consistency of opportunity and production with the Phillies from 2020-22. It was the same story with the Angels, who acquired him in ‘22 as part of the trade that sent pitcher Noah Syndergaard to the Phils. Moniak won an arbitration case and a $2 million contract from the Angels last offseason, but the club didn’t have him in its plans and released him this spring to reduce the payment to $483,871, or 45 days’ pay.
But Moniak, 27, had a sense he was headed to the right place when the Rockies signed him for $1.25 million just before this season started. Colorado general manager Bill Schmidt was running the Draft in Moniak’s selection year, and the Rockies spoke to the Phillies about him years back.
“I’ve known Schmidt since I was 17 years old, with him coming through the house and with pre-Draft interviews,” Moniak said.
Moniak’s first Rockies plate appearance was a pinch-hit home run at Tampa Bay on March 30, but he hit .192 in April.
Interim manager Warren Schaeffer has been using Moniak around the outfield and as designated hitter, and form has arrived. Moniak’s surge is part of the reason the Rockies are 5-5 in their last 10 games and 9-11 since June 1.
Schaeffer has figured out how to keep Moniak and Tyler Freeman – a Spring Training acquisition from the Guardians – in the outfield and as the designated hitter regularly. Freeman extended his hit streak to 10 games on Sunday, and batted leadoff with Moniak second.
“A couple years ago, he made a huge contribution to the Angels, so I don’t know if Mickey is necessarily a diamond in the rough,” Schaeffer said. “Mickey’s just a good player; he wouldn’t be 1-1 [No. 1 pick in Round 1] way back in the day for no reason. There’s a really good player in there and he’s showing it now.”
Moniak’s winning homer came one day after he was picked off second base in a key situation in the Rockies’ 5-3 loss to the Diamondbacks on Saturday night. Moniak simply said, “I’ve got to be better.”
On Sunday, the play was gone. He continued with the philosophy of turning off his mind and letting his bat work.
“Sometimes you’re trying to chase something -- trying to chase a feel,” said Moniak, who has two remaining years of arbitration. “A lot of us in this game are very competitive. We want results. We want to do something to help the team win, and sometimes you feel it’s mechanical and you try to fix it in the box -- which never really works out too well.
“I’ve been able to clear my mind, get in the box and just compete.”