By Canadian Press

Toro’s former coach elated by Canadian’s role in Verlander no-hitter

Sep 2, 2019 | 1:20 PM

Abraham Toro’s former coach wasn’t surprised to see the Canadian launch the home run into the Rogers Centre stands that gave Justin Verlander some run support during his latest no-hitter.

He was even less surprised by Toro’s steady throw from third base to get the final out of the game.

James Martin, the hitting coach at Seminole State College in Oklahoma — where Toro spent the 2016 season before being selected by the Houston Astros in the fifth round of that year’s draft — said Toro’s defence has always shined through.

And in a no-hitter situation, those instincts are always magnified.

“You don’t really think about it until you get to the sixth, seventh inning and then it’s one of those deals where you’re like ‘uh oh,’ and you’re really on your toes from that point on,” Martin said in a phone interview with The Canadian Press from Kansas, where his team was playing a fall league game.

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“If you look at that last play, Abraham was really making sure that ball got there. You really don’t want to be the guy who screws that up.”

Martin and his Seminole State players were working at a fundraiser at the University of Oklahoma Sunday afternoon while Verlander was tossing his third career no-hitter. He said the news of the accomplishment — and Toro’s involvement in it — “just spread like wild fire” among his group, which watched the highlights after the fundraiser was over. 

“Guys started jumping around, excited for him,” Martin said. “It’s very exciting for a young guy to even be involved in something like that. It’s exciting for us to tell guys ‘hey, you never know, you’re closer to the big leagues than you think.’ And then to see Abraham be that young and get to experience that, no-hitters in the big leagues don’t happen every day.”

Toro, a 22-year-old from Longueuil, Que., was called up by the Astros from triple-A last month, making his MLB debut on Aug. 22 against Detroit.

He went into Monday’s game against Milwaukee batting .207 with a .324 on-base percentage and two homers, including Sunday’s two-run shot in the top of the ninth inning.

While the sample size is small, Martin said he’s been impressed with his former player’s first eight MLB games, and he has seen what Toro is capable of first-hand.

Martin recalled a game at Central Arizona in 2016 when the then-19-year-old, using a wood bat, hit one of the longest home runs of the season.

“It was an old spring training field for the Angels, 420 feet to straightaway centre, and he hit that ball so well,” Martin said. “I think at the time there were only seven guys that had hit a ball out of there, so that usually doesn’t happen, not for a 19-year-old kid.

“He hadn’t been a real power hitter before that, but he showed glimpses of it with that ball. You knew there was something there.”

Martin said Toro, who arrived in Oklahoma weighing 175 pounds out of high school and left at 210, worked hard daily on his defence at third base despite pro scouts telling them they viewed him more as a catcher. 

He’s glad the Astros had faith in him as an infielder too.

“He moves so well and they recognize that he’s not just a third baseman — he’s a special third baseman,” Martin said. “To stay in the big leagues you can’t just depend on your bat. You have to really play defence and right now his defence is great.

“And his hitting is going to catch up. He’s going to relax and he’s going to hit at a high rate.”

Martin, who’s been coaching at Seminole State College for 16 years, said seeing Toro in a no-hitter within a week of his MLB debut was a special feeling.

That it happened in Toronto, in front of Toro’s family, added even more weight to it.

“He’s a very proud guy, proud to be from Canada,” Martin said. “To go out there and do that in front of his mom and his brother, all his family, it’s gotta be a special feeling for him.

“It brings you to tears to see a guy like that put so much work in and go out there and be a part of that. To be a part of a no-hitter, and to be the one to basically win the game, that’s special.”

Melissa Couto, The Canadian Press