Moreno a low-risk promotion for Blue Jays

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The future is now for top Blue Jays prospect Gabriel Moreno, who is expected to be promoted in time for this weekend’s three-game series against the Detroit Tigers.

Moreno is not only the top prospect in the Jays’ organization, but he’s also a top-10 prospect in all of baseball in just about every ranking of that sort.   

The scouting reports project Moreno to be an All-Star-calibre catcher. He is a two-way player with a great arm and power bat. He isn’t hitting for as much power this year as last, but his .324/.380/.404 will play nicely in the Jays’ lineup. Plus, many players end up hitting for more power in the majors than they did in Triple-A. The pitchers in the majors are around the plate more than in the minors, where pitchers can scatter the ball.

Moreno is coming to the majors to play, not watch games. As a general manager, I would not promote my top prospect in the middle of the season just to let him see what the major leagues look like.

I suspect the Jays will carry three catchers to more safely use their catchers as designated hitters. I would expect Alejandro Kirk to DH on days where Moreno is catching. When Kirk catches, Moreno will DH. When Charlie Montoyo wants to give one of those two a break, he will insert left-hand hitting Zach Collins as the DH.

This is a fairly low-risk promotion. A Kirk/Collins tandem can certainly hold down the fort until Danny Jansen returns from the broken bone in his left hand. If Moreno excels, the Jays will have a decision to make when Jansen returns. My expectation is that if this is the case, Collins would be demoted, and they would carry Jansen, Kirk and Moreno. What seems like a problem of too much depth and talent usually takes care of