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Update: Red Sox expected to promote Yoan Moncada to Double-A ‘within days’

Boston's top prospect is days away from being one step closer to the majors.

Kelly O'Connor

Update 11:16 amAlex Speier clarified that he meant "could come" within days, not "should come" within days. So, while Moncada could absolutely be promoted to Double-A for the same reasons you'll find written out below, this isn't news so much as an educated guess from someone who knows their stuff.

If you force me to guess, Speier will be proven correct, with the word choice being a little ahead of schedule.

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Yoan Moncada has been dominating High-A nearly since he arrived, so the wait for his promotion to Double-A has been seemingly forever-taking in the making. We won’t have to wait much longer, however, as the Boston Globe’s Alex Speier reports that a promotion of the top prospect in the Red Sox system should happen "within days."

Moncada has not played the last two games in order to rest up from some minor (and also unnamed) injuries. He’ll also miss the Carolina League All-Star Game because of them — which takes place on June 21 — but he might also miss that exhibition contest because he's in Double-A by then. So, from the sounds of it, the Sox are giving Moncada time to rest up before sending him to his next challenge in Portland.

Will he play another game in High-A before then? Both Salem and Portland have games scheduled until June 20, so maybe that will be his travel day, with Moncada debuting in Maine against Harrisburg on the 21st.

That’s all speculation. What we do know is that Moncada, who just turned 21 years old literally weeks go, is batting .304/.426/.478 with 36 steals in 44 attempts and 30 extra-base hits over 60 High-A games. Over his last 12 games, Moncada has hit .370/.473/.609 with 11 doubles. While it’s unclear if he’ll keep on playing second base after his promotion or the Sox will figure out his long-term position, it's time to send him north either way.

And, if you're in the Portland area and haven't been to a game yet to see what has mostly been a prospect-light roster, right about now is going to be the time to change that. Andrew Benintendi was promoted to Double-A a month ago, and while he struggled at first, he’s batting .277/.333/.489 over his last 12 games. Moncada and Benintendi reunited again will be something, especially if they both are hitting.