Ehjays

Yes great read: TORONTO -- One of Gabriel Moreno’s earliest baseball memories is retiring. He was eight or nine years old and had no other choice. Moreno’s family couldn’t afford to keep him in organized baseball in Venezuela. Instead, he played soccer in the streets of Barquisimeto, which is where an unspectacular baseball story could have ended. Instead, Moreno is the next great hope for the Toronto Blue Jays, one of baseball’s brightest young prospects at 22 years old. He’s gone from a $25,000 signing in August of 2016, barely enough to register as a blip on the radar, to the jewel of the system -- and he's set to join the big league club for the upcoming series in Detroit, per a source. Where the star catcher stands now is not where the arrows always pointed. It was Moreno, his family and the community that lifted him, which all led to this moment, and the many moments the Blue Jays hope to see Moreno shine in for years to come. This is the story of Gabriel Moreno. The Kid from Barquisimeto To understand Moreno’s journey, you must first understand the Venezuela he was born into, the youngest of four children. Food shortages and extreme poverty began to take hold of Venezuela in the late 2000s, furthered by a country-wide energy crisis that contributed to the nation’s ongoing economic decline. Moreno’s family didn’t come away unscathed. His father, José Moreno, worked in street paving in their native Barquisimeto and its surrounding areas. When the crisis hit, everyone’s priorities had to shift quickly. “My dad wasn’t making much money,” said Moreno, born in 2000. “He couldn’t find much money, and when he did, it was for food, not for baseball.” What looked like the end of a childhood hobby, though, was soon resurrected as the beginning of a big league dream by the man who became family to Moreno. Jose Mejia, the president of 12 de Octubre, a local baseball school, was one of the first people to believe in the promise of Moreno’s bat, taking him under his wing and putting him back on the field when he was 11. “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.” Mejia understood the reality of the Moreno family and what it would mean to let Gabriel’s promise disappear in a time of scarcity. Unwilling to let that happen, Mejia would lodge Moreno in his house for days at a time, essentially welcoming him into his own family. “Every tournament was an expense for his dad,” said Mejia. “... Of course, at that time, the mindset was different. The economic situation was unfavorable. Since I was always around the baseball world, I wanted to help in any way I could. “He was like a son to me, and I was like his father at that moment.” José Moreno, in the meantime, continued to support his son in any way he could -- even if that involved Gabriel being away from home, spending his days with another family. “He worked so hard,” said Gabriel of his father. “He always did everything in his power so I could play baseball. My dad is the best for helping me keep my focus on the game.” That focus started to pay off when Gabriel gained more recognition in Venezuela -- something Mejia had set as a goal from the start. “He couldn’t stay hidden.” At 12, Moreno joined Carlos Torres’ Champions Baseball Academy, according to Mejia. He was one step closer to the end goal. “When I was in Venezuela, all I wanted was to be called to play in the Dominican and play ball, because I wanted to help my family forward,” said Moreno. “Truthfully, it was a difficult time, because I was very attached to my dad and my family. It was difficult, but little by little I got used to it. Because someone who has this much love for this ball has to make lots of sacrifices.” Uncovering the hidden gem Everyone involved remembers their first Gabriel Moreno story. Andrew Tinnish, the Blue Jays’ VP of international scouting, remembers hearing those early reports from Francisco Plasencia, who played professionally for a decade before joining Toronto as a scout. All of these stories share the same asterisk, though. Moreno’s name wasn’t the one they were expecting to hear. “Depending on the size of the academy, they may have 10-12 [players] or 30-40 with different age groups, different classes,” Tinnish explained. “Often, you’re going to go in and an agent is going to showcase specific guys. They’ll put out a small group, maybe two or three standout guys. That’s who you’ll see take the bulk of the live at-bats if they play some type of game. Gabriel was not in that group.” Instead, Tinnish remembers, Moreno made himself part of it. These priority groups typically needed another hitter to round out the group, or an extra bat to face a pitcher that scouts were there to see. Every time Plasencia looked, he saw Moreno running to the front of that group. He soon proved he belonged, too, driving the ball to all fields and showing a natural hitting ability that kept Plasencia watching. Still, Plasencia wanted to take this a step further. It’s easy for young players to seem eager on a day they know their academy’s bleachers will be littered with MLB scouts. They’re coached for years to perform in that exact moment, not just at the plate but with every single step they take in front of scouts. That’s when Plasencia planned to return in secret. On a day Moreno didn’t know scouts were coming, Plasencia was tucked away, watching. “I saw this kid cleaning the field, helping to bring in all of the balls from BP to the pitcher. I never see that. I was a player for 10 years and I’d never seen a player do that,” Plasencia said. “If he knew I was there? Sure. But I’d been there a couple of times without telling anybody. I saw this kid doing the same thing every day for three or four days. I talked to the groundskeeper there, and he said, ‘Yes. This kid has done this every day since he got to this academy.’” Even for baseball’s No. 4 prospect, this is how all of the stories begin. Not with the player, but the person. “Parts of this are his athleticism, his vision and his coordination, but the absolute most significant piece of this is his upbringing,” said Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins. “He’s also an exceptional listener, which I find to be a great attribute of talent.” This was the determining factor for Plasencia, too. Signing 16-year-olds is all about projecting the growth of physical talents, but these are still boys growing into men. With trust in Moreno the person, his belief in the physical tools only grew, which again Plasencia brings back to Moreno’s family. “They’re the kind of people that, it doesn’t matter if they have money or not, they’re still the same. For me, that family is unique,” Plasencia said. “This kid has that on his heart and his mind. For me, that’s why he’s so good. What touched me the most, and the most important thing to see in a player, is for him to do all of this and be the same as he was six or seven years ago.” Certain in what he saw, Plasencia brought in Sandy Rosario, the Blue Jays’ director of Latin American operations, for a longer look. Moreno was an infielder at the time, playing shortstop and second, but the Blue Jays had asked him to step behind home plate and make some throws. Those throws hit the mark, so when Rosario came to town, they put Moreno in catcher’s gear. That Monday was rough. Moreno looked like a young kid wearing gear he’d never worn before, but by Tuesday, he was already looking better by the hour. At this point, Plasencia and Rosario knew three things. Moreno could hit, he had some natural talent to work with and he wanted to be better. That was enough, so the $25,000 contract was signed. Around when Moreno signed, he was in the middle of playing a state tournament on a club with Mejia, who’d done so much to get him to that moment. Moreno had to stop playing initially, but this was a long tournament, stretching over a couple of months. Eventually, Moreno’s agent gave Mejia a call and said that Moreno was cleared to play in the final games of the tournament. Mejia slotted his unofficial son back into the lineup. “His first at-bat, at 3-0, he hit it out of the park as if he were a grown man,” Mejia remembers. “From then on, his steps as a professional player began.” Developing a star Moreno enjoyed some early success as an 18-year-old in the Rookie GCL and Appalachian League, but his full-season debut with Single-A Lansing in 2019 put him squarely on the radar. On that Lugnuts team was Jordan Groshans, now the Blue Jays’ No. 3 prospect. Groshans has come up through the system with Moreno, including the ‘21 season with Double-A New Hampshire where Moreno hit .373 with eight home runs and a 1.092 OPS in just 32 games before breaking his left thumb. That surge skyrocketed him up prospect lists. “I’m just so proud of him. He’s like a brother to me. It’s really good to see how much love he’s getting, how much support he’s getting and how far he’s come,” Groshans said. “Everybody else knows how much of a superstar he is, but it seems like he doesn’t. It’s normal for him. He shows up, goofy, laughing and joking around with his teammates, then goes out and goes 4-for-4 like it’s nothing. He’s just a joy to be around and a great teammate.” Coaches echo Moreno’s teammates throughout the Blue Jays’ system. He left an immediate impression playing winter ball with Cardenales de Lara in Venezuela for two offseasons as well, during which he met and played under Carlos Mendoza, who’s also the bench coach for the New York Yankees. “He walked into that clubhouse in the middle of a year and fit right in,” Mendoza said. “It was just another guy in the clubhouse. His interactions with his teammates, joking around. And when they were pulling for him, that tells you a lot about the person Gabriel is. He was special.” Last offseason, Moreno was with Lara to DH, getting him more at-bats after a shortened season. What Mendoza remembers, though, is finding Moreno at the field early every single day, going through drills as a catcher and third baseman even though he wouldn’t be playing defensively. “This is a guy that is a No. 1 prospect,” Mendoza explained. “Everybody talks about him coming from the Fall League, and he walks into a clubhouse full of veterans, guys from all over. And he was just very humble, he listened, very respectful. Credit to his parents for raising a great kid and the Blue Jays for continuing to do that. Very humble, very quiet, willing to learn, asking good questions.” In Triple-A Buffalo this season, Moreno is playing under manager Casey Candaele, who’s seen it all in this game. Candaele played 18 professional seasons, including nine in the Majors before moving on to coach with the Mariners, Rangers and Blue Jays. Candaele remembers his Moreno moment, too. It was a throw. With a runner at second base, Moreno picked a slider out of the dirt with a lefty in the box, dragging Moreno behind the hitter’s body. The baserunner broke for third, thinking the ball would get past Moreno, but he’d kept it in front of him. Moreno twitched his body away from the hitter to create a throwing path, but immediately saw his own pitcher was in the way now, so he made a second adjustment to throw around both players. The throw was a rocket. The runner was out. This all happened in a split second. “I asked him what he was thinking, and he explained exactly what transpired,” Candaele remembers. “Just to be able to do that in the moment is pretty instinctually advanced. That’s something that, when it happened, I stopped and said, ‘Man, that’s special.’" Soon enough, everyone will have their first big league story with Moreno. He’s the organization’s catcher of the future with the potential to not just be good, but to be a franchise cornerstone, growing old and chasing championships alongside Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette. When that moment comes, Moreno will think of his father, mother and three older siblings. He’ll also think of Mejia. He’s family, too. “I have no words. I have two sons and he’s like the third,” Mejia said. “He’s such a humble kid, so honest, hard-working. He carries his values at the root of his humility. And with everything he’s accomplished, it hasn’t changed the way he sees the world. He’s still the same ball player and the same person. As a person, I can guarantee it, he’s better than as a ball player. So, imagine how great that is.” That moment will bring an ending and a beginning. Far from Barquisimeto, where Moreno played soccer on streets paved by his father, he’s building on the many moments that almost never were. “If I tell this story, no one believes me.”

Blue Jays To Promote Gabriel Moreno By Sean Bavazzano | June 8, 2022 at 10:17pm CDT The Blue Jays are calling up top catching prospect Gabriel Moreno, as first reported by Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extrabase. Keegan Matheson of MLB.com adds that Moreno’s call-up is likely to coincide with Toronto’s upcoming weekend series in Detroit. No 40-man moves will be required to facilitate Moreno’s debut, as the young catcher was added to the team’s roster back in 2020. Signed as an international free agent in 2016, the 22-year-old Moreno has seen his stock soar after an excellent 2021 showing. Entering the 2022 season both Baseball America and MLB.com ranked Moreno as the seventh best prospect in baseball after previously missing top prospect lists (and the 2020 season) entirely. Through 32 games last season at Double-A, Moreno hit an otherworldly .373/.441/.651 with eight home runs and a manageable 22 strikeouts. A right thumb fracture limited the amount of regular season reps given to the Jays’ top prospect, but it didn’t stop him from receiving a promotion to Triple-A at the end of the year. An additional 100 plate appearances of .329/.410/.494 hitting in the Arizona Fall League, against older competition no less, only helped to reinforce the hype. Moreno’s 2022 season hasn’t been quite as powerful as last season’s performance, but a .323/.377/.406 showing against Triple-A competition was clearly enough to impress Toronto’s top brass. Those 35 games will net Moreno his first big league call-up, but it remains to be seen what position he’ll be manning when the decision becomes official. Primarily a catcher with a strong arm, Moreno has received the odd start at DH and third base in recent years to get his right-handed bat into teams’ lineups. With Alejandro Kirk producing at an elite level from behind the plate and offseason acquisition Matt Chapman locked in at third, there doesn’t appear to be a slam dunk place on the field for Moreno to helm. Catcher Zack Collins was recalled just yesterday to fill in for injured catcher Danny Jansen (who was having a strong season in his own right), a move that perhaps signals the three catchers will shuttle between catcher and DH duties for the time being. If nothing else, Moreno’s call-up figures to place some pressure on a number of bench players and outfielders (who have seen reps at the DH position) who have underperformed offensively thus far.

8-1 Twins now

Braves going all out

Wtf

Gage can Buy Lourdes a few tonight

Matt Gage sighting

Double play ball

All-star voting starts today, you are allowed to vote 5 times a day, lets make sure its not an All-Yankee lineup. https://www.mlb.com/all-star/ballot?affiliateId=asb-headline-club-2022

Thats exactly what i thought when i read the tweet, I had to look it up.

We all knew he would do this.Its your daily head scratcher

https://www.mlb.com/bluejays/news/prospect-team-of-the-week-june-6-2022?t=mlb-pipeline-coverage Prospect Team of the Week RP: Adrian Hernandez, Buffalo Bisons (Triple-A) Blue Jays No. 18 0-0, 1 SV, 0.00 ERA, 2 G, 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K, 0.00 WHIP Hernandez worked three perfect innings over a pair of appearances to join the Prospect Team of the Week for the second time this season as he continues his dominant work for Buffalo. The right-hander struck out three over two frames on Monday, needing just 20 pitches (and 16 strikes) to do so. On Sunday, he wrapped up his week by striking out one of the three men he faced and throwing eight of 12 total pitches for strikes. Hernandez started the year with three appearances for Double-A New Hampshire and put up a 2.25 ERA while striking out six in four innings. Since his promotion to Buffalo, the 22-year-old has been lights out. Hernandez has allowed just one earned run on three hits over 15 innings with the Bisons, striking out 22 against four walks and posting a 3-0 record to go along with his 0.60 ERA and 0.47 WHIP.

https://www.mlb.com/reds/news/hottest-pitching-prospects-june-2022 Hottest pitching prospects in each farm system Blue Jays: Dahian Santos, RHP (No. 28) Ricky Tiedemann’s ascent through the system and prospect ranks has taken up a lot of attention, but don’t lose sight of what Santos is accomplishing in Single-A Dunedin. The 19-year-old right-hander has struck out 41 batters over 21 2/3 innings in his past five appearances, good for a 50.0 percent K rate in that span. That lack of contact has led to a 0.83 ERA, 0.78 WHIP and .088 average-against over his last 30 days. Santos doesn’t feature a ton of velocity with a low-90s sinker, but his low-80s slider has done more than enough to give Florida State League batters fits.

Yeah good story

Oh Yeah!!

Blue Jays Select Matt Gage By Anthony Franco | June 6, 2022 at 6:39pm CDT The Blue Jays announced they’ve selected reliever Matt Gage onto the MLB roster. Jeremy Beasley was optioned to Triple-A Buffalo to clear an active roster spot, while Nate Pearson was transferred from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list in a corresponding 40-man move. Gage is headed to the majors for the first time after spending eight years in the minor leagues. Drafted by the Giants out of Siena College in the tenth round in 2014, Gage spent four seasons in the San Francisco farm system. He topped out at Triple-A before being released, then spent some time in the Mets’ system and in the Mexican League. The southpaw worked as a starter through his time in Mexico but converted to relief after signing a minor league deal with the Diamondbacks heading into 2021. The New York native dominated over seven Double-A appearances with the D-Backs, but he struggled with home runs en route to a 5.57 ERA in a hitter-friendly environment at Triple-A Reno. Gage qualified for minor league free agency again at the end of the season, and he’s off to a career-best start in Buffalo. The 29-year-old has tossed 16 2/3 innings with the Bisons, working to a sparkling 1.08 ERA. He’s fanned an excellent 32.3% of opposing hitters against a solid 7.7% walk rate to get a big league crack. Toronto just traded Ryan Borucki to the Mariners over the weekend, thinning the lefty relief mix. Borucki was out of minor league option years, though, so the Jays were limited from a roster perspective with him scuffling. Gage has a trio of options remaining, so he’ll add a more flexible arm behind Andrew Vasquez while Tim Mayza is on the injured list. Pearson has been out all season recovering from mononucleosis. Today’s IL transfer is strictly a procedural move that doesn’t affect his eligibility window. He’s ruled out for sixty days from Opening Day, not today, which we’ve already surpassed. Pearson is on a rehab assignment at Buffalo and should be reinstated within a couple weeks.

Remove Beasley or Vasquez, pretty easy

This one

Final 4 of an 11 inning game

Its only the 2nd inning we can win this

https://www.mlb.com/bluejays/news/toronto-blue-jays-top-mlb-prospects-updates-2022?t=mlb-pipeline-coverage Santos is turning heads at Single-A (June 3) Dahian Santos stands atop the strikeout mountain for the Florida State League. Toronto's No. 28 prospect has been masterful in his second professional season. The 19-year-old continued his impressive start in Dunedin's 5-4 loss to Clearwater. The right-hander hurled four scoreless innings while giving up just one hit and two walks, fanning seven in the process. This performance marked his fifth scoreless outing of the season, only having one game where he struck out less than five batters and four games through nine appearances where he's given up a run. Santos' league-leading 65 strikeouts have been over 33 2/3 innings pitched while sporting a 1.34 ERA, and he entered the game against the Threshers having 58% of his at-bats ending in a strikeout. -- Ethan Sands Santos, Martinez sweep Florida State League honours (June 3) The Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays have produced some incredible individual performances this season, which continued on June 3, when right-hander Dahian Santos and outfielder Gabriel Martinez were named Florida State League Pitcher and Player of the Month for May. Santos, ranked the club’s No. 28 prospect by MLB Pipeline, has been one of the most productive players in the entire organization this season. The 19-year-old owns a 1.52 ERA with a whopping 58 strikeouts over 29 2/3 innings. Dunedin has been a pitching factory this season, including April’s winner, Ricky Tiedemann, who’s since earned a promotion to High-A Vancouver and a spot on MLB Pipeline’s overall list at No. 100. Martinez, who is making a serious push for the Blue Jays’ Top 30 list, looks like an early candidate for the organization’s breakout prospect of 2022. The 19-year-old Venezuelan is hitting .297 with nine home runs and an .883 OPS for the Dunedin Blue Jays, including a .367 average in May with 36 hits in 25 games. Toronto has been starved for outfield talent in its prospect pipeline, so Martinez’s surge is very welcome news. -- Keegan Matheson