Moniak making his way to Philadelphia

Beset by injuries, the Phillies are bringing 2016's No. 1 overall pick to the Major Leagues.

Outfielder Mickey Moniak was called up ahead of Wednesday's game against the Mets. Philly's No. 13 prospect was not in the starting lineup.

Big day, @MickeyMoniak 🥳 pic.twitter.com/Ymr5h0LmlB

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) September 16, 2020

The move came on the heels of an oblique injury suffered by outfielder Kyle Garlick in Tuesday's win over the Mets.

In a pregame news conference, Phillies skipper Joe Girardi seemed impressed by Moniak's recent production at the team's alternate site, as well as during Spring Training.

"He has swung it extremely well in the short time that he has been in Lehigh Valley," Girardi said. "It's someone that we're paying attention to, that's for sure."

The three-time World Series champion-turned-manager thought the 22-year-old handled being in big league camp very well for his age.

"He wasn't intimidated, he felt comfortable, guys loved being around him," Girardi said. "That's what you worry about -- the first time a guy gets in the game or the first week or the first month is how their nerves play. And if they play a lot in Spring Training, then you really worry about him the beginning time in the big leagues. But I didn't see nerves from him, so that's a good sign."

Moniak became the 21st first-round pick from his Draft class to get the call to The Show.

"It's a young man that was drafted at a very young age and it takes time," Girardi said. "I know we've seen some other kids move faster, but it doesn't really happen a lot. You don't see a lot of 21-year-old kids in the big leagues. We see more now than we used to. ... Some guys take longer to develop than others. He had a pretty good year last year, he's swung it extremely well in the camp down there and we have our eye on him."

In 2019, Moniak was named an MiLB organization All-Star as well as landing on the Eastern League's midseason and postseason All-Star teams. During the season with Double-A Reading, he set career highs with a .439 slugging percentage and .741 OPS. He reached double-digit homers -- 11 -- for the first time as a pro and he topped the organization with 13 triples. The California native also landed in the club's top five with 67 RBIs, 52 extra-base hits and 204 total bases.

Over four seasons in the Minors, Moniak amassed a .256/.302/.390 slash line with 22 homers, 194 RBIs, 193 runs scored and 42 stolen bases.