Some MLB mysteries refuse to fade, especially when a former five-tool star disappears before getting a fair shot to prove his worth. For the Boston Red Sox, Adalberto Mondesi’s unfulfilled stint after his 2023 trade remains one of the most puzzling chapters in recent memory. Once a promising talent with the Kansas City Royals, Mondesi led the American League with 10 triples in 2019 before a torn ACL derailed his career for nearly four years.
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Now, just when his MLB journey seemed to be fading into the past, the 31-year-old is making noise again with Águilas Cibaeñas in the Dominican Professional Baseball League. And with his confidence returning, a long-awaited big-league comeback may no longer be just a distant possibility.
“Adalberto Mondesí is attempting an MLB comeback. He last appeared in a game in 2022 and is currently playing in the Dominican Winter League,” SleeperMLB quoted The Athletic.
The Royals signed Mondesi at 16 for $2 million. His father, Raúl Mondesí, was an All-Star, and Adalberto inherited his athleticism. Mondesi became the first player in MLB history to make his big-league debut during the World Series, appearing in Game 3 for the Royals in 2015 at just 20 years old.
‘In 2018, Mondesi exploded: .276 average, 14 homers, 32 steals in 75 games. Extrapolated over a full season, that’s 30 homers and 69 steals, elite production. However, despite such talent, injuries forced him to play no more than 102 games in any MLB season in seven years with the Royals.
However, all came to a halt on April 26, 2022, when Mondesí tore his left ACL while returning to first base on a pickoff throw. That play ended up being his final MLB appearance. Kansas City traded him to the Red Sox in January 2023. Persistent knee soreness and multiple rehab shutdowns kept him off the field for the entire 2023 season before he hit free agency.
Mondesi has not returned to the field since then. Now, after sitting out four full seasons to rehabilitate his knee, Mondesi returned to competitive baseball in late 2026. He joined Águilas Cibaeñas in the Dominican Professional Baseball League (LIDOM). “First of all, thanks be to God, because it has been a long rehabilitation process,” Mondesi said. “I now feel 100%.”
Interestingly, his return with the Cibaeñas could reopen the door in MLB. Cibaeñas’ vice president of baseball operations is René Francisco. He is also the assistant GM of the Royals. “For me, returning to LIDOM with the Águilas Cibaeñas was a comfortable decision, because René Francisco, vice president of baseball operations, opened the doors for me, and I hope everything turns out very positively,” Mondesi added.
Before Mondesi, MLB was no stranger to witnessing comeback heroism. Once a 100-mph setup man for the Boston Red Sox, Daniel Bard suddenly lost the strike zone in 2013 and retired in 2017 after failed minor league attempts. He returned to the majors with the Colorado Rockies in 2020 at age 35, winning NL Comeback Player of the Year and posting a 1.79 ERA with 34 saves in 2022.
Then there was Rick Ankiel. He was a top pitching prospect for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2000 before suffering a historic meltdown with wild pitches in the playoffs. After years in the minors and injuries, he returned to MLB in 2007 as a power-hitting center fielder with a cannon arm, smacking 74 career home runs.
The 31-year-old Mondesi still has the age to make a return. A .333 average from three games so far with the Cibaeñas offered a head start. A few more dominant stints in the Dominican league would force the MLB suitors to recall how he crushed a sixth-inning three-run home run off Andrew Miller of the Guardians back in 2018.
The demand for a reliable base-runner is still there in MLB, and hopefully Mondesi could tap into that opportunity. “I’m focused on playing hard, feeling good, and whatever God wills,” Mondesi is hopeful.