Angels Reveal Yoan Moncada's Status for Opening Day

Gabe Smallson | Mar 26, 2025

Apr 8, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Chicago White Sox third base Yoan Moncada (10) steals second base during the first inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Dermer-Imagn Images / David Dermer-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Angels have been dealing with quite a few health issues ahead of Opening Day.

One of the most notable was newly acquired veteran infielder Yoan Moncada and his somewhat mysterious thumb injury.

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Earlier this spring, Moncada was suffering a deep bruise in his thumb that was holding him out of play.

Although nothing was torn, the severity of the bruise made it difficult to grip a bat, let alone field groundballs at third. After being scratched from a Cactus League matchup earlier this month, more concerns started to swirl around the $5 million offseason addition.

Manager Ron Washington didn't help calm the uncertainty at the time.

“Just one day, he came out there and the doc said that he hurt his thumb,” Washington said. “That could happen many ways. He doesn’t even know. He just woke up one morning and his thumb was messed up. Might have been something that happened and it didn’t affect him till the next day. But it is a deep bruise, and he can’t throw. And he has trouble swinging the bat. When you’re swinging the bat, you’re pulling down on that, so you’ve got to be cautious.”

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As the roster is starting to get finalized, there has been positive news coming out of the Angels camp.

Angels manager Ron Washington told reporters that Moncada has cleared all health markers and will be on the Opening Day roster.

Yoan Moncada cleared all health markers and will be on Opening Day roster, Angels 26 man is set

— Taylor Blake Ward (@TaylorBlakeWard) March 26, 2025

Some of the initial concern was that Moncada is no stranger to an injury keeping him out for significant time, as he only logged 12 games with the Chicago White Sox last season. His left adductor strain ended his season in early April as he came back for one brief appearance in a September away contest.

His opponent for that mid-September game? The Angels.

At 29 years old, Moncada is looking to write a new chapter to his baseball career. After eight games in his first season with the Boston Red Sox, he played the next eight seasons in Chicago.

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For more Angels news, head over to Angels on SI.