Arizona Diamondbacks 2024 Player Review: Gabriel Moreno

The catcher missed time with multiple injuries but was a steady presence on defense and at the plate.

Jul 8, 2024; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Gabriel Moreno (14) throws down to first base for the out against the Atlanta Braves in the sixth inning at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images / Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images

This article is part of a series chronicling the individual seasons of players who appeared for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2024.

Reviews for players who still have rookie eligibility for 2025 will appear in our prospect season reviews. Players are presented in the reverse order of their aWAR, an average of Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs WAR.

Gabriel Moreno, Right-Handed Catcher, Age: 24

2024 Contract Status: $760,100

Gabriel Moreno stats with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2024 and over his entire three-year career. / Jake Oliver

Gabriel Moreno was acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays along with outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. in the trade that sent outfielder Daulton Varsho out in December of 2022. Upon arriving, Moreno was set up to be the team's new franchise catcher for the next half-decade.

Moreno had an excellent 2023, especially in the second half of the season when he began hitting for power and extra-base hits. This continued into the playoffs as he played quite well in October. To wrap up a strong first full professional season in MLB, he won the NL Gold Glove award at catcher.

After that good of a year, expectations were high for Moreno entering 2024. Unfortunately, his 2024 got off to a rough start at the plate.

Over his first 60 games, Moreno slashed just .223/.308/.325/.633. The bright side was that he was taking his walks with 23 of them and not striking out much with just 33 punchouts.

Even when the contact and power weren't there, and balls weren't dropping in for hits, Moreno didn't panic or rush at the plate. He stayed patient and maintained his approach and continued to control the strike zone, a very mature approach at the plate for a young catcher.

On June 21, Moreno went 2-for-3 with a home run and seemed to be turning a corner at the plate, but sprained his left thumb when he went to catch the ball off the ground behind the plate.

This led to him being placed on the 10-Day IL where he would remain until being activated on July 2. Just like in 2023 when Moreno caught fire at the plate after being activated off the IL, so it happened this year.

From July 2 to August 5, Moreno helped lead the D-backs to amazing heights as they dominated MLB over this time period with endless series wins.

Moreno was a big part of that as he slashed .333/.412/.476/.889 over 25 games. He had 28 hits and once again maintained his approach at the plate even when the power and contact wasn't there as he walked just 11 times and struck out only 12 times.

Sadly for the Diamondbacks and Moreno, during the August 5 game, while running to beat out a throw to first base, Moreno injured his groin.

It was clear that he was in deep pain as he rolled on the ground and was unable to put much weight on his left leg. There was concern that the young backstop might need surgery or that his season was over, but Moreno was diagnosed with a left adductor strain.

While it was bad timing for the D-backs to lose him, they managed to continue winning until the end of August and hold the fort down behind the plate with Jose Herrera and rookie Adrian Del Castillo.

That would remain the way until September 15 when the team activated Moreno off the Injured List with just two weeks of games remaining in which Arizona needed to win plenty of them in order to make the playoffs and needed their best catcher behind the plate.

Moreno looked no worse for wear at the plate as he slashed .300/.432/.333/.766 over the final 37 plate appearances with seven walks and seven strikeouts.

However, one could tell that Moreno was different when he ran. He was much slower than before and it seemed as if his was protecting his groin while running as he had just one double over that span.

It was obvious that Moreno was not 100% healthy but gutting it out to help the team make the postseason. This was evident when Moreno left a game against the Brewers early over fear that he re-injured his groin when a pitch hit him while catching. Luckily, he was fine and was back behind the plate a day later.

In total, over 97 games, Moreno had 18 doubles, five homers, and 45 RBI. He walked 41 times to just 52 strikeouts. His walk rate of 11.7% was above average while his strikeout rate of 14.8% was easily lower than MLB average.

The strides he made in raising his walks and lowering his already low strikeout rate was impressive and good to see. Those kinds of abilities will only help him get better and establish a baseline for future seasons that he can use to build off of.

He raised his walk rate by over four percent while he lowered his strikeout rate by just under five percent.

His OPS+ was 105, better than 2023 considering 100 is the league average. His wRC+ was 107, again better than 2023 with 100 being league average. His overall OPS was .734.

Despite the lackluster power shown via stats, Moreno hit the ball harder and more often in 2024. He barreled balls 6.6%, a 1.8% increase over 2023. His average exit velocity was a career-high 90.0 MPH.

One factor that weighed down his ability to drive the ball into the gap for doubles and more was that he just hit the ball far too often on the ground. MLB average ground ball rate is 42%. Moreno hit the ball on the ground at a rate of 49.6%.

However, that was the lowest in his career and 5% lower than his number in 2023 which is why his fly-ball rate of 32% was a career-high as he strove to lift the ball for more power.

Moreno did much better on the road than at home with a .291 average on the road versus .233 at Chase Field.

His defense was once again some of the best in baseball as he was a Gold Glove finalist and easily the best catcher on the team working with pitchers. He had a 4.38 Catcher ERA and worked the best with nearly the whole pitching staff.

2025 and Beyond

2025 Contract status: Under Contractual Control for 2025, Near League-Minimum Salary

Moreno will be back in the teal come February at Salt River Fields. Provided he's healthy, he will take the field behind the plate for the Arizona Diamondbacks on Opening Day in 2025. Moreno is under club control for the next four seasons and will once again make close to league minimum this year ahead of a potential arbitration next year.

Moreno will look to stay healthy in 2025, maintain his hot second halves into the first half, and have a consistent swing at the plate beyond controlling the strike zone. Plus, he will aim to block better and throw out more baserunners in order to get his second career Gold Glove.

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