Gabriel Moreno is Healthy and Ready to Go
The Arizona Diamondbacks nearly lost Gabriel Moreno to injury after a Brice Turang back-swing caught him flush on the head in the second game of the NL Wild Card Series between the D-backs and Brewers. Before that, Moreno had caught every inning in the series and most of the month before as the team's franchise catcher proved worthy and vastly important to the team's success. After they removed him from the game, it appeared there was a chance that he might enter concussion protocol because typically head injuries wind up going that route. If that were to happen, Moreno would've been forced off the roster for the NLDS against the Dodgers. Luckily, it appears that the D-backs and Moreno dodged a bullet as he's ready to go for Game One Saturday night in Los Angeles.
On Friday, Manager Torey Lovullo spoke about Moreno's potential injury and said that "He has not entered the concussion protocol," and that he's been tested over the past few days and shown no symptoms.
Moreno spoke to the media on Friday too. He said he was ready to play and that "the adrenaline of watching the game helped me" overcome any symptoms that he was feeling from being hit in the head. Since he didn't enter the concussion protocol, no scans were done to confirm any injury. He mentioned that he was "thankful to God and I feel good" after confirming that no scans were done.
Moreno doesn't blame Turang for the backswing or hitting him in the head saying that "it's just something you have to deal with as a catcher." This wasn't his first time being hit in the head on the backswing stating that back in 2021, the first, he took off a week or so from playing.
Moreno went 1-5 in the Brewers series with a home run and a strikeout. His defense is superior to that of the Dodgers' Will Smith and their offense is similar enough minus the power as was examined here. The D-backs will be hoping for a great series from their star young catcher both on the defensive and offensive side.
