Blue Jays Promote Top Prospect Gabriel Moreno
June/11/22
With Danny Jansen heading to the IL with a fifth metacarpal fracture, the Blue Jays were needing another catcher on the roster to join Alejandro Kirk. While the club did use Zack Collins earlier in the season, the front office decided it was time to promote their top prospect, Gabriel Moreno, and he made his long-awaited MLB debut on June 11th against the Detroit Tigers.
Moreno spent the next month on the Blue Jays roster, playing in 14 complete games while also being used as a defensive replacement or pinch hitter when needed. His first taste of MLB action saw him post a .276/.300/.293 slash line through 58 at-bats while also adding one double and four RBI to the tune of a .593 OPS.
The Venezulan-born catcher would be dropped back down to AAA when Jansen was healthy in mid-July and he returned when the rosters expanded in early September, finishing the season on the Jays squad and even making the postseason roster. He also notched his first Major League home run on the last day of the regular season, driving Orioles pitcher Michael Baumann’s offering to the opposite field for a three-run homer.
On the year, Moreno finished with a .733 OPS and seven RBI, going 22 for 69 on the year.