Abraham Toro

Abraham Josue Toro-Hernandez

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 190 lb.
• School Seminole State College
• High School Vanier College
• Debut August 22, 2019

• Born December 20, 1996 in Longueuil, QC CAN

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Biographical Information

Abrahama Toro made his major league debut with the Houston Astros, who had drafted him in the 5th round of the 2016 amateur draft, playing third base on August 22, 2019, against the Detroit Tigers. He was called up that same day when SS Carlos Correa was placed on the injured list, with 3B Alex Bregman sliding over to short. He went 0-for-4 in his debut. He was hitting .424 in 16 games for the AAA Round Rock Express at the time of his call-up, having been promoted from the AA Corpus Christi Hooks at the end of July. He hit .306 with 16 homers and 70 RBIs in 98 games in the Texas League. On September 1st, he provided all of the offence when ace Justin Verlander pitched the third no-hitter of his career against the Toronto Blue Jays, launching a two-run homer in the top of the 9th that broke a scoreless tie and gave Houston its 2-0 margin of victory. Overall, he hit .218 in 25 games but was left off the postseason roster.

In 2020, he saw limited action as a back-up infielder with Houston, hitting .149 in 33 games with 3 homers and 9 RBIs. At-bats were hard to come by given the Astros' excellent infield, and he had just 97 plate appearances. He did make his postseason debut, drawing a walk in his sole plate appearance in the ALCS against the Tampa Bay Rays; he was pinch-hitting for C Martin Maldonado in the 9th inning of Game 3 on April 13th and worked the walk from Diego Castillo with one out; George Springer also drew a walk to bring up the tying run, but Castillo then retired Jose Altuve and Michael Brantley to end the game. He got a little more playing time in the first months of 2021, filling in for an injured Bregman, and hit .211 in 35 games, with 6 homers and 20 RBIs. On July 27th, he was the sole position player and youngster in a four-player trade with the Seattle Mariners, being sent along with veteran reliever Joe Smith in return for relievers Kendall Graveman and Rafael Montero. He had a successful debut for his new team that same day; pinch-hitting for Dylan Moore in the 9th inning against his former teammates, he hit a two-run homer off closer Ryan Pressly. However, the Mariners still lost, 8-6. In the previous game -- his last with the Astros -- he had homered against the Mariners; he was the first player to homer for one team, be traded to the team against whom he went yard, then homer for his new team against his old team in the following game. He got his first start for the Mariners the following afternoon and went 1-4 with an another home run, 2 RBI, a base on balls, and a stolen base. This was his fourth game in succession in which he homered. On August 31st, he faced off against the man at the other end of the controversial trade - Graveman - with the bases loaded and a scoreless game in the 8th. After a tense battle that required eight pitches, he delivered big time, crushing his first career grand slam to lead Seattle to a 4-0 win. That ended a month in which he batted .296 with 43 total bases, as he had been very solid ever since his acquisition. He ended the season at .239 in 95 games between the two teams, with 11 homers and 46 RBIs.

He started off slowly in 2022, as he hit just .156 in 18 games in April, with 2 homers and 5 RBIs. He did not have a regular position, seeing time at second base, third base and DH. With the risk of being sent down to the minors looming, he homered in back-to-back games on May 7-8th, the latter being a shot off Andrew Kittredge in the 9th inning that sent the game into extra innings, putting Seattle in position to claim a 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. He ended up appearing in 109 games that year, batting .185 with 10 homers and 35 RBIs. His OPS+ was only 65. He was on the Mariners' roster for both of their postseason series that year, but did not appear in any games. On December 2nd, he was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers along with OF Jesse Winker in return for 2B Kolten Wong.

His family is originally from Venezuela but emigrated to Quebec shortly before his birth. He is fluent in three languages - English, French and Spanish.

Related Sites

• Abraham Toro on mlb.com