Inside Baseball: Gabriel Moreno's callup is another fast-track promotion from Buffalo by Blue Jays

The Blue Jays' top prospect played all of 14 games in Sahlen Field, a mere 46 at-bats (although he batted a robust .391). I suppose he could come back, although the more likely scenario when Jansen returns is the Jays keep three catchers and use Moreno and Alejandro Kirk as their primary designated hitters to get at-bats all around.

It brings you back to Vladimir Guerrero's 2019 campaign in Buffalo (one at-bat, a walk in a game suspended by rain after one inning), and this absurd stat: That was the only inning of their careers that Guerrero, Bo Bichette and Cavan Biggio played together with the Bisons in Buffalo.

Were it not for two pandemic summers of Blue Jays games here, we would have basically not had that trio in Buffalo at all.

The days of prospects staying a long time in Triple-A seem to be over, and that's really not a Blue Jays thing. You get your development time in Double-A and your finishing in Triple-A, and that's about it. Parent clubs have too much time and money invested in these prospects to keep them too long in the minors anymore, especially when they're at the last rung before the big leagues.

When you think back to the Cleveland days, Buffalo Baseball Hall of Famer Richie Sexson played 204 games with the Bisons in 1997-98 and had 778 at-bats overall before he went to the big leagues for 11 seasons and 306 home runs. Those seem like the dark ages.

Admittedly, the Indians had stars at many positions that blocked players in Buffalo, while the Blue Jays have been growing a big-league club through their organizational players and have made slots to move them out of the minors. But the Toronto approach is much more the norm these days.

Biggio played 75 games for the Bisons, while Lourdes Gurriel played 68, Bichette played 56, Teoscar Hernandez played 49, Guerrero totaled 39 and Santiago Espinal played 32. Of the Jays' current starters, only Jansen spent more than 100 games here, with 88 of them coming in his 2018 season when he was the Herd's most valuable player.

The drumbeat from fans and media to get players moving through the system is louder than it's ever been. And while teams can't listen to the outside noise, it's hard to ignore that it's there.

"To me, the bottom line is they're going to do what they think is right for the team and the player," said Bisons manager Casey Candaele, who is also the Blue Jays' minor league field coordinator at spring training. "Everybody might say, 'Hey, there's our best prospect. He's hitting .330 in Triple-A, what are we doing?' Well, the Blue Jays have a good idea what to do.

"They're doing the right things with the decisions they make. They don't let outside influences come into play. It would be pretty tough to be a GM and listen to things like social media. You wouldn't last very long. Ross (Toronto general manager Ross Atkins) and the group do a great job. They feel that this is the time that Gabby is good to go. If it wasn't the time, then there would be another time."

Moreno, who went 1 for 4 for the Blue Jays in his debut Saturday in Detroit, batted .324 for the Bisons and led all Triple-A catchers in runners caught stealing (15) and caught-stealing rate (53.6%). There's no doubt he looked awfully polished for a 22-year-old.

"The last couple of years, I've been getting better as a catcher, mentally and physically," Moreno said upon joining the Jays on Friday. "Every year, I've been developing new skills overall. ... I think that's the key. I've been following the plan, my routine, every day, and I like where I'm at right now.

"Being in Triple-A, that was what I had in front of me and I was making the most out of it and just getting prepared for whatever the goal was."

Bisons pitching ace Casey Lawrence was in the Toronto chain from 2010-2017 before returning last year and has quickly noticed how much different things runs now.

"With our player development staff, if they're not the best in baseball, I'd love to know who is," Lawrence said. "From my time prior to now, it's amazing what we've gained as an organization. Think about technology, the Player Development Complex (the $100 million facility the Jays opened last year in Dunedin, Fla.), the nutritonists, dieticians, the strength and conditioning, facilities. It is all improved. When you're able to put your players in the best position to succeed, I think special things happen."

And Lawrence said the grooming of Moreno backs up the Jays' methods.

"The way he progressed from the first time that I threw with him this year till the last time, he just got better every time out," Lawrence said. "You're looking at a 22-year-old kid. If you're getting better every time out and you're learning and constantly improving, and you're asking the right questions, and our pregame meetings are getting more detailed, our sign sequences are getting more detailed, it just shows his advancement in the game. He's still learning, but he's going to be really good player for a long time."

The Moreno moment

Candaele loves to throw curveballs at players to let them know about their first major-league callups, and he used one of his old standbys with Moreno by calling both the player and hitting coach Corey Hart into his Sahlen Field office late Wednesday night.

"He told me that we needed to keep working on some different things regarding my offense," Moreno said Friday in Detroit. "But that, unfortunately, I wasn't going to be able to do it in Buffalo – because I was going to do it in the big leagues."

Candaele's assessment of Moreno: "He's a catcher, so there's going to be growing pains. If people expect him to be perfect when he goes up there, they shouldn't put that on the kid. But he's such a talented kid – plays hard, works hard, busts his tail. He does all the right things. He's a great teammate. 

"Those things have gotten him to where he is and continue to get him places to set him up for what I think can be a long career. He's that good."

Herd grapevine

• Lawrence improved to 8-1 with a 1.77 ERA in Friday's 4-1 win over Worcester – the most wins for any pitcher in professional baseball. He's 15-3 with the Bisons the last two years and has to be getting close to his second look of the season with Toronto. 

Lawrence said the Jays' analytics have helped him adjust the usage of some of his pitches, and there are simply more detailed scouting reports on opponents in Triple-A these days than there used to be. That's given him an edge to bulk up the win total.

"That's why we play, right? Nowadays, I think it's not quite looked at maybe the way that I think it should be," Lawrence said. "I'm trying to go out there, and I don't care if I'm in the backyard or Single A, Triple-A, big leagues. I'm trying to win. I'm trying to put my team in the best position and I've been able to do that."

• Nathan Lukes' inside-the-park grand slam June 4 in Rochester is the first in the Bisons' modern era dating to 1985, and probably the first in many years for the Herd prior to that as well.

What was Lukes thinking when the ball rolled under the dive of Rochester right fielder Matt Lipka?

"I wouldn't say I was jogging out of the box, but I was thinking, 'Come on, get down, get down' and then as soon as it went past him I was like, 'Oh, man, I gotta get going,'" Lukes said. "Coming around second, I was winded, my legs are heavy. (Coach Devon White) at third base was rounding me home and I'm kicking it into third gear. That does not happen very often. I'll remember that for the rest of my life."

Lukes' last inside the parker? It was in 2013 for his college summer ball team in Chillicothe, Mo.

• Candaele with a Yogi Berra-like deadpan about his team's 22 2/3-inning scoreless streak that ended Friday night: "We're in every game. We're just not scoring any runs, so that takes you out of games. It's a direct correlation really. You don't score runs, you usually don't win. And you give up runs, you don't win. Do both of those things at the same time, you really don't win."