Tommy John rehabilitation clinics gotta be making money hand over fist in Boston…
Who is he, and where does he come from?
He’s Jovani Moran. He attended Carlos Beltran’s Baseball Academy growing up in Puerto Rico and spent six years in Minnesota’s minor league system before making his debut for the Twins in 2021. The 27-year-old lefty has thrown 91 innings since, and if that seems like a low number, it is: he’s coming from a stint on the full-season injured list in 2024. And if you’ve read Matt Gross’ article about the Red Sox making some volatile transactions this offseason and want to guess that Moran’s extended stay on the IL was from undergoing Tommy John surgery, you’d be absolutely right.
Moran comes to the organization in exchange for catcher-2B hybrid Mickey Gasper, who had a rough 0-for-18 start to his Major League career.
Is he any good?
Uh, he might be? Of course, not the answer anyone wants to hear, but a reasonable one for a guy who last pitched in early September of 2023. In 2022, Moran had an FIP of 1.78 and amassed a positive bWAR. Now, he does walk a fair amount of batters to go with his high strikeout rate; 27 in those 42 innings the last year he pitched. His fastball also tops out at about 93 miles per hour, which isn’t much for a reliever, but, to be fair, pre-injury, he was starting to emphasize his changeup (which tops out at about 85) anyway.
Tl;dr, just give me his 2024 2023 stats.
44 1⁄3 IP, 2-2, 5.31 ERA (which, with a 3.69 xERA and 3.82 FIP, meant he was pretty unlucky), 48 K, 27 BB
Show me a cool highlight.
Here he is throwing that changeup to three batters in a row, including two one-time Red Sox players. It’s worth noting that six weeks later, this same part of this Blue Jays lineup was devious to the Red Sox in a game I’d really like to forget.
What’s he doing in his picture up there?
Closing out an extra-innings appearance by striking Triston Casas out, leaving Kaleb Ort to allow the go-ahead run go about five minutes later. By the way, can you believe the numbers Kaleb Ort put up in his time with the Astros in 2024… even with letting longballs go in virtually every high-leverage appearance he made?
If you want a more humorous (and phonetically helpful) answer, he’s explaining that although the ‘a’ in his last name is, in fact, pronounced as an o, it’s Muh-RAN, not moron.
What is his role on the 2025 Red Sox?
This is likely not a move with high levels of consequence. With at least ten capable and more experienced arms vying for a handful of bullpen slots, Moran will likely start the season in Worcester. However, I suspect the organization’s… ahem… run prevention unit saw something they liked in 2022’s Moran, as opposed to 2023 version, when he may have been feeling the effects of a bad arm. Maybe they think they can unlock something, while helping him limit the walks.