Brian Moran

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Brian William Moran

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Biographical Information[edit]

Pitcher Brian Moran was selected by the Seattle Mariners in the seventh round of the 2009 amateur draft and made his pro debut that summer with the Pulaski Mariners. He reached the AAA level in 2012, but his progression was slowed when he underwent Tommy John surgery in 2014 and he eventually had to go through the independent leagues to attract the attention of major league teams again.

Moran is the nephew of big leaguers B.J. Surhoff and Rick Surhoff. His brother, Colin Moran, was selected in the first round of the 2013 amateur draft.

He spent the 2019 season with the New Orleans Baby Cakes where he went 2-3, 3.15 in 43 games as a reliever. He was called up by the parent Miami Marlins when rosters expanded in September and he made his major league debut against his brother Colin's team, the Pittsburgh Pirates on September 5th, entering the game to start the 4th inning in relief of Elieser Hernandez, trailing 5-2. Colin was the second batter he faced and became his first strikeout victim when he caught him looking on a full count. He pitched a scoreless inning, the only baserunner he allowed was Josh Bell who reached after being hit by one of his pitches. He received credit for the Marlins' 10-7 win when Miami rallied for 4 runs in the top of the 5th inning and made that lead last until the end of the game. He was the first pitcher to face his sibling in his debut in at least 100 years; they had of course faced each other many times before - in the family's backyard. Making things even better was the fact the brothers' parents were present at the game. Brian commented after the game: "I think the last three days have been some of the most exciting, moving days that I’ve experienced. I don’t think you could dream up a cooler situation. I' so excited I got to share it with my family. I got to get out on a big league mound." Moran went 1-0, 4.26 in 10 games.

Just before spring training started in 2020, he signed as a free agent with the Toronto Blue Jays and made the team. He was the only true lefty reliever on the opening day roster, as the other three southpaws were starter Hyun-Jin Ryu, and Anthony Kay and Ryan Borucki who were slated to either start or pitch in long relief. He made his first appearance in the season's second game, against the Tampa Bay Rays on July 25th. He pitched a scoreless two-thirds of an inning, but his pitches were all over the place, including one that went completely behind the back of Joey Wendle! He was then used the next day under dramatic circumstances when closer Ken Giles was unable to protect a 4-2 lead after retiring the first two batters. Giles allowed a double and two walks to load the bases, then went to a 301 count on Ji-Man Choi. He was obviously out of sorts and Moran came in to replace him. His first pitch to Choi was ball four, forcing in a run, then he got Brandon Lowe to hit a routine grounder down the first base line, just out of a diving Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s reach. The ball was fielded by 2B Cavan Biggio, however, but Brian was slow in getting off the mound and getting to the bag, allowing Lowe to just beat him to it as the tying run scored. The Jays then lost the game when Tampa scored twice in the 10th, for a devastating loss in a game that was for all intents and purposes already in the win column. He was placed on waivers a few days later and was claimed by the Marlins on August 2nd, as they needed any live body they could get their hands on with half their team on the sidelines due to a rash of COVID-19 infections.

Moran has a sidearm delivery typical of lefthanded specialists, but does not throw particularly hard, which raises questions as to whether he can thrive in the new environment forcing relievers to face a minimum of three batters starting in 2020.

Further Reading[edit]

  • Adam Berry and Alan Saunders: "Moran brothers face off in historic at-bat: Marlins lefty becomes first pitcher to strike out sibling in MLB debut", mlb.com, September 6, 2019. [1]

Related Sites[edit]

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