Get used to Gabriel Moreno and buy his jerseys because he will be the Diamondbacks' franchise catcher for the rest of this decade. The young star has continued to showcase his offense and defense this Spring Training. He's doing this while developing innate chemistry with each of Arizona's pitchers regardless of whether he's calling pitches. Moreno's entering his second full season in MLB and is looking to cement himself as the premier backstop in baseball.
Moreno's bat has picked up where it left off last season when he hit over .300 for the last few months of the season. In 15 at-bats so far, he has four hits, a homer, three RBI, and an .886 OPS. Moreno said that he's anxious for the season to start.
But, it's his defense that is drawing even better reviews. He's thrown out multiple would-be base-stealers this Spring Training including yet another one on Saturday during the game against the Reds.
When asked afterward about his thoughts on runners continuing to try to steal, he said "I don’t know. This is baseball. They still want to win, but I’m not going to allow it."
Manager Torey Lovullo has noticed just how fast Moreno is at raising his arm from his crouch and firing a bullet to second base to nab baserunners. He appreciated Moreno's comment that he's not going to allow it.
"That's the simplest way a really good athlete can put it, they're going to do what they have to do and I'm going to do what I have to do. I've said it so many times. I don't know how you can time it or accurately mark it but in my opinion, nobody gets that ball into the slot [the arm slot to throw] as fast as Gabi. Then you add in arm strength and there are a lot of gifts there. We're going to take full advantage of it and enjoy it every inning this year that he's out there."
Besides throwing out runners, Moreno has quickly developed a strong chemistry with new Diamondbacks starting pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez. Despite Saturday being their first live-game action, Rodriguez has taken note of how good Moreno is.
"I feel really comfortable with Moreno out of the gate, right away. He was calling the pitch right where I wanted and was sitting right where I wanted...The double that I gave up, I told him that's on me because that's the pitch that I wanted to throw, he wanted to throw something else and it probably would've gotten a swing and miss or something else. I got too cocky on that...Today, I felt like it was perfect with Moreno. All the other pitches were called right where I want them and I know it will get better."
Rodriguez noted that both he and Moreno will call pitches in the regular season, but that Rodriguez does prefer to call more of his pitches.
Moreno spoke about E-rod's outing saying "Great work today, that's what we're trying to do in Spring Training. Get to know each other more and more and execute every pitch today...He likes to really paint on each corner so just getting to know him more and more."
Lovullo commented on what he sees between the pitcher and catcher. "I see relationships forming between Gabi and all the pitchers. Between the things that a young catcher will get to as he matures and he's very comfortable in his own skin this year. Last year, I think there was some newness to it and it pleases me to hear that [Rodriguez's comments on Moreno] to know that the relationship is working and they're simpatico. I think the pitcher and catcher relationship is one of the most important ones on the field. They got to like one another, got to understand one another. There's nonverbal communication...I like that. I can't say enough good things about Gabi."
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