Future Watch: Abraham Toro Baseball Cards, Houston Astros – Canadians are breaking out across the basketball court, but their presence on MLB baseball diamonds isn’t exactly backseat either. Care in point, Astros third-baseman Abraham Toro.
Growing up in Longuiel, PQ, Toro (also known by the hyphenated last name Toro-Hernandez) attended Polyvalente Édouard-Montpetit High School before moving to Vanier College. Toro took his act to the States after one season, however, attending Seminole State College. There, he hit .439 and counted 20 home runs in just 55 games.
The high numbers attracted MLB attention and Toro was destined for baseball’s 2016 draft after just one season of NCAA ball. He was selected in the 5th Round by the Houston Astros, with some thought given to converting the Venezuela-born prospect to a different position initially.
“We will explore the catching thing with him if it’s something we feel is appropriate,” Astros Scouting Director Mike Elias told MLB.com. “We’re mostly excited about his physical tools and the success he’s had. He had a great season. Our scouts think he’s got a third baseman’s arm, he’s got power and he’s an athletic kid.”
Toro’s path to the bigs has included a few development stops along the way. First came the Greeneville Astros of the Appalachian League in 2016, followed by stints with the Tri-City ValleyCats and Quad Cities River Bandits in 2017. His upward progression continued in 2018 as he moved to the Buies Creek Astros and later the Corpus Christi Hooks. Inspired play led to Toro being invited to the Arizona Fall League before year’s end.
2019 was the big year of change for Toro. Though he started in Corpus Christi, Toro was promoted to the Round Rock Express and, on August 22 2019, he made his MLB debut with the ‘Stros. Arguably, his big league highlight came just a few days later when, on September 1, Toro belted a two-out, two-run homer to break a scoreless tie in the top of the ninth inning. In the bottom half, Toro counted the final out of the game. This, by the way, was his second big-league game in his native Canada.
Toro has had some struggles in 2020 with a surprisingly low average of .147, but that is certain to change as he gets more used to MLB action. One highlight came during the season, however, as he blasted a three-run homer against the Colorado Rockies:
Toro has all the power that his name implies, and this has made collectors sit up and take notice. The good news is he has a plethora of rookie cards to choose from, including from 2020 Inception, Bowman Sterling, Finest and a host of others.
Future Watch: Abraham Toro Baseball Cards, Houston Astros – Stats
| Year | Age | Tm | Lg | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | OPS+ | TB | GDP | HBP | SH | SF | IBB | Pos | Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 22 | HOU | AL | 25 | 89 | 78 | 13 | 17 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 19 | .218 | .303 | .385 | .688 | 79 | 30 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5/H3 | |
| 2020 | 23 | HOU | AL | 33 | 97 | 87 | 13 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 23 | .149 | .237 | .276 | .513 | 39 | 24 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5DH/34 | |
| 2 Yrs | 58 | 186 | 165 | 26 | 30 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 18 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 42 | .182 | .269 | .327 | .596 | 59 | 54 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||||
| 162 Game Avg. | 162 | 520 | 461 | 73 | 84 | 14 | 6 | 14 | 50 | 6 | 6 | 34 | 117 | .182 | .269 | .327 | .596 | 59 | 151 | 8 | 22 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |||||
Future Watch: Abraham Toro Baseball Cards, Houston Astros – More Resources
- Abraham Toro MLB.com Player Profile
- Abraham Toro – Secondary Market Pricing
- Beckett Card Catalog – Randy Arozarena Baseball Cards
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