Gabriel Moreno of the Blue Jays takes batting practice prior to his MLB home debut against the Baltimore Orioles at Rogers Centre on June 14 in Toronto.VAUGHN RIDLEY/Getty Images
Before Gabriel Moreno had played a single inning at Rogers Centre, there were numerous people on the field in the hours before his home debut Tuesday, eager for some time with one of the top prospects in baseball.
As Moreno took batting practice, fans at the on-field velvet ropes recognized the newcomer and waved him over for autographs. Several reporters mulled around the dugout awaiting their first conversations with the young Venezuelan, projected to be a cornerstone of the Blue Jays franchise for years.
The Jays called up the 22-year-old for his major-league debut last weekend after placing catcher Danny Jansen on the injured list with a fractured finger. The young player with a steady bat, a cool demeanour and athletic defence has fit right in during his first stint with the big-league club, prompting the question: What happens when Jansen returns?
The Jays already have one of baseball’s hottest catching tandems in Jansen and Alejandro Kirk. Moreno’s arrival causes an overflow of talent at the position, part of a loaded Jays roster with big playoff hopes. Moreno might force Jays brass to consider keeping three catchers and reformulate how to share the duties.
Moreno was seated in the dugout next to Jays’ Spanish interpreter Hector Lebron before Tuesday’s game, but the prospect tried to speak English with the reporters as much as he could. He turned to Lebron only a few times for help.
“I have a lot of emotions. I feel amazing,” Moreno said. “I’m so happy to be here in the big leagues. I’ve been working really hard to stay here. It’s the dream that all players have.”
Moreno was born in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, one of four kids.
“My family’s more happy than me,” he said of his family’s exuberant reaction to the call-up. They’re following his games from Venezuela.
Moreno, the Jays’ top prospect, is No. 4 overall on Major League Baseball’s 2022 top-100 prospects list and the No. 2-rated catching prospect, behind Baltimore Orioles product Adley Rutschman.
In his first three games with the Jays – two in Detroit, and one in Toronto – he registered four hits and two runs batted in 11 at-bats. He’s caught for several pitchers.
Moreno’s journey with the Jays began when they signed him, out of Venezuela, to a $25,000 deal. He’s since had stops in the Gulf Coast League, Class A Lansing, Double-A New Hampshire, the Arizona Fall League and the Venezuelan Winter League. He went to Jays spring training in Dunedin this year, then played 36 games at Triple-A Buffalo, where he batted .324 and threw out more than half – 15 of 28 – baserunners who attempted to steal with him behind the plate.
He chose No. 55 as his Jays jersey as a nod to former Toronto catcher Russell Martin. And he’s done some things in that uniform that have impressed.
Moreno made his major-league debut last weekend in Detroit against the Tigers, catching for Kevin Gausman and Ross Stripling. When Gausman looked uncharacteristically off in the first inning – surrendering a couple of walks – the rookie catcher initiated an early mound visit in their first game together, to calm the veteran pitcher.
“That’s just a good feel for the game,” Gausman told reporters in Detroit. “He feels confident, comfortable that he can come out and talk to me, that’s huge. You know, I don’t know if I was 22, catching a guy with some time, if I would do that. Pretty cool.”
Moreno singled in his first at-bat inside Rogers Centre on Tuesday, hitting a line drive to right field. He did it again in the sixth inning. Then in the eighth, with the Jays trailing by two, he cracked one into left field instead, scoring a run. He finished with two RBIs.
The Jays trusted him to catch for Yusei Kikuchi – the Japanese lefty who usually throws to Jansen and who is in a rut. He threw out Baltimore’s Jorge Mateo at second base on a steal attempt, rocketing a perfect ball to Cavan Biggio’s glove, inches from the bag and Mateo’s fast-arriving hand in the dirt.
The Blue Jays official Twitter account wasted no time posting highlight video, punctuated by the line “Don’t run on Gabby.”
General manager Ross Atkins said he hasn’t seen any drop-off in Moreno’s play against big-league competition.
“I expected to see some anxiety, I expected to see a little bit of a pace change – whether it be game calling or body language or movement behind the plate, how it impacted his at-bats,” Atkins said. “But it looks like the exact same player that we’ve been watching play in the minor leagues and in spring training, on a big stage. That that doesn’t always happen. That is exceptionally encouraging.”
Atkins said keeping all three catchers is an option.
“There are pros and cons … making sure that there’s enough playing time – if it were Gabby to be that third catcher – how much are we offsetting his development?” Atkins said. “What are the opportunities? Where are we in the season? How are the three of them performing? But having that as an option is a good start.”
The 5-foot-11, 195-pounder is the youngest man on the Jays roster, younger even than the two 23-year-old stars, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Kirk.
“He reminds me of Kirk, like they’re steady for being such young kids … they don’t get nervous,” Jays manager Charlie Montoyo said of Moreno. “So yeah, he’s doing great. Love the kid.”