The Toronto Blue Jays already have a lot of exciting young talent, and there’s more on the way.
Toronto has reportedly called up top prospect Gabriel Moreno and will activate him for this weekend’s series against the Detroit Tigers.
#BlueJays No. 1 prospect Gabriel Moreno is joining the team in Detroit and he will be activated at some point during this weekend’s series, per source.
It’s time.
— Keegan Matheson (@KeeganMatheson) June 9, 2022
Última hora: los Azulejos de Toronto subieron a Grandes Ligas al C venezolano, Gabriel Moreno.
Tiene 22 años y es el prospecto número 4 de todo el béisbol, de acuerdo con MLB Pipeline. #ElExtrabase⚾️🇻🇪 pic.twitter.com/3P0eFMS3mT
— El Extrabase ⚾️ (@ElExtrabase) June 9, 2022
Moreno, 22, is a consensus top-10 prospect in baseball, with MLB Pipeline (MLB.Com) ranking him the No. 4 prospect in baseball. He’s the Blue Jays’ No. 1 prospect.
The 5’11”, 195-pound catcher has put together a .324/.380/.404 slash line with one home run this season for Triple-A Buffalo. In 2021, he combined to slash .367/.434/.626 with eight homers across three minor-league levels (mostly Double-A).
You knew it was coming sooner or later.
First jack of the season for No. 1 @BlueJays prospect (MLB No. 5) Gabriel Moreno, giving the @BuffaloBisons a cushion. pic.twitter.com/IWsrW8nxR2
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) May 21, 2022
Moreno is a 60 Future Value (FV) prospect according to FanGraphs and MLB Pipeline, with good to great tools across the board (the 60-grade hit tool particularly stands out), and that can be particularly valuable coming from the premium position of catcher. FanGraphs refers to Moreno as “the most athletic catcher to come along since J.T. Realmuto.”
The decision to call up Moreno surely relates to Toronto catcher Danny Jansen landing on the Injured List with a broken bone in his left hand on Tuesday.
In May, the Baltimore Orioles called up catcher Adley Rustchman, the consensus top prospect in baseball. Rustchman has struggled at the plate in the early going, with a .145/.230/.200 slash line in his first 61 plate appearances.
The Blue Jays are 33-23, which has them tied for second place in the AL East, but seven games behind the New York Yankees. Toronto is at least solidly in AL Wild Card shape at the moment, and FanGraphs gives the Jays 97% playoff odds.
