Hey, you should count on Abraham Toro!

Abraham Toro didn’t have the MLB debut we were all expecting. Although he gave us flashes of his abilities, he was a .218/.303/.385 hitter during a small sample in 2019 (89 appearances). But you shouldn’t give up on him, he’s GOOD, and he’s about to prove it at the highest level.

The Canadian native did have a good showing against righties: .273/.349/.509, along with seven extra-base hits. He failed to match those numbers when he faced lefties, who dominated him to a .087/.192/.087 slash line (26 PA). Again, don’t sleep on him. Why? Let me explain myself...

Toro was a victim of “bad luck” or rare circumstances. The 23-year-old infielder had an above-average contact (83.0%) and a below-average BABIP (.259) despite having an acceptable exit velocity (86.9 MPH).

Plus, 50% of the balls he put in play were hit to the ground and that’s gonna hurt your average even if you’re Billy Hamilton. As a matter of fact, he was four-for-30 on ground balls (.133), according to Baseball-Reference.

He was particularly bad against fastballs. That shouldn’t be the case for a third-best prospect of any organization and that’s not Toro’s case either. He hit for a .219 average (7-for-32), but calm down, his expected stats told us we should not worry: .512 XSLG, .366 XWOBA.

Toro’s statistics in the minors should tell you something. Back in 2018, he owned Arizona Fall League pitching. Playing among the best prospects of the game, Abraham slashed .348/.463/.561 across 80 plate appearances.

Months after, he raked between Double-A and Triple-A before earning a call-up. In 114 games in those categories, the promising infielder registered a .324/.411/.527 line, along with 31 doubles, four triples, and 17 home runs.

He is slated to have a huge role in the long term for the team. The Astros will likely go through a free agent purge between 2021 and 2022. They would appreciate having a totally developed Toro that could take over a regular spot over the field and eventually become another success story from the farm system.

Enjoy Abraham Toro’s two home runs for the Astros in 2019...