A quick guide to Blue Jays' Gabriel Moreno
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This story was excerpted from Keegan Matheson's Blue Jays Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
It’s time for Gabriel Moreno.
The Blue Jays’ top prospect is set to join the club in Detroit for this weekend’s series, during which he’ll be activated and likely make his MLB debut.
This is rare ground for the Blue Jays. Typically, you see teams at the bottom of the league debuting prospects of Moreno’s caliber, like we saw recently when Adley Rutschman debuted with the Orioles.
The Blue Jays have an embarrassment of riches, though, when it comes to young talent and catchers. Moreno is ranked as the No. 4 prospect in Major League Baseball by MLB Pipeline. For some Toronto context, that’s right between where Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette ranked coming into the 2019 season before their own debuts.
Moreno is another potential franchise pillar alongside Guerrero, Bichette and Alek Manoah, and while there’s still plenty of development ahead for the 22-year-old, this is the beginning of another exciting new era in Blue Jays baseball.
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FROM BARQUISIMETO TO THE SHOW
When Moreno was just eight or nine years old, he had to stop playing baseball as his family struggled financially. It wasn’t until a member of Moreno’s community, Jose Mejia, stepped in that Moreno could continue again. Mejia became another father figure to Moreno, and Moreno like a son to Mejia.
“He picked me up, dropped me off, made everything easier for me,” said Moreno. “He helped me return to baseball. Thanks to him, I was able to go to the academy that signed me. I’m so grateful for him. Whenever I see him, I ask for his blessing. He’s been like a father to me and his whole family has helped me so much.”
This began a remarkable journey, including the Blue Jays’ scouting process of the young infielder who they’d eventually convert to a catcher and sign for just $25,000.
Written with Julia Kreuz, you can read the full story of Moreno, the Blue Jays’ top prospect who almost never was.
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