Getting to Know Astros/Hooks 3B Abraham Toro

Corpus Christi Hooks 3B Abraham Toro received an early July promotion from High A Buies Creek after slashing .257/.361/.473 with 20 doubles, one triple and 14 home runs at the lower level. He led the Buies Creek team in OPS for much of the season and was in the top 10 in the league in that category. He has had early success in his first six games with Corpus Christi as well, compiling a .273/.448/.545 line with 3 doubles, a home run and seven walks to five strikeouts.

Abraham Toro - July 2018

Photo by Jayne Hansen

Drafted in the 5th round in 2016 out of Seminole State College in Oklahoma, Toro is a native of the Montreal area (his family moved to Canada from Venezuela before he was born) and he is fluent in French, Spanish and English. And despite English being his third best language, he speaks it without hesitation and with a slight (and delightful) French accent. What he doesn't do in English, or any other language for that matter, is talk a lot. Particularly when the subject is himself. I was hard-pressed to get answers to my queries that went beyond,"Just the facts, ma'am."

In speaking about his season to date, Toro said, "Obviously, defensively I've made a lot of improvements, especially on my throws. That's been what I've been working on, on my throws. Now they've been more consistently good. On offense, I've been able to control more of the strike zone. I don't chase as much as I used to do."

In particular, as a switch hitter, Toro has been working on his consistency from both sides of the plate. Through this point of the season, he is hitting .242/.356/.481 from the left and .299/.398/.471 from the right side of the plate.

As to his current focus, Toro said, "Just being an overall more complete hitter. I think I've got the power. I've got the power numbers, but I don't want to be just an all or nothing hitter. I just want to be more complete and still hit for average and power."

When I spoke with Buies Creek Hitting Coach Ben Rosenthal earlier this season, he was very impressed with Toro's approach, "He can be 0-for-2 and he'll end up taking a walk. He's getting himself on base. That shows that he's swinging at good pitches. Sometimes he doesn't always do what he wants, but when he can mix in walks and you can put the barrel to the ball like he does consistently, good things happen."

Of his time spent off the field, Toro told me, "I just like to relax. I like to watch movies and just go to restaurants. I like trying new food. It's kind of a hobby, like trying food of different countries. That's the kind of thing that I like."

When asked about a teammate that really stood out for him in his time at Buies Creek, Toro replied, "I would say Corbin Martin [now also with the Hooks]. He was outstanding, just watching him. Hitters didn't have a clue what he was throwing. He was really fun to watch. When I was at third base, it was kind of boring because he'd just strike everybody out. He's a really awesome pitcher."

The next day, I asked Martin to return the favor and tell me about Toro and he was much more expansive than Toro was as to the type of player Toro is. "He's very even-keeled. You never know if he's mad or he's happy. And you've got to be like that in baseball. I was telling Chas McCormick yesterday that every time he goes up, he looks like he's going to hit the ball 450 feet. He's built like a freaking bull out there. And he's like the nicest kid ever. Toro's a great guy. Very down to earth. When we were in High A, he made some spectacular plays behind me. It's always a nice feeling when you look over and a guy like that's getting dirty for you or doing it at the plate. That's someone you always want playing with you, not against you. I love Toro. He's a good guy. You always wish the best for someone like that. Everyone loves him. And he continuously gets better and better. I think he's proven himself as a third baseman," said Martin.

That last statement was alluding to the short-lived experiment in 2017 of converting Toro to a catcher. Although Toro is more than willing to play wherever he is asked, he is no longer catching and is working hard on honing his skills at third base.

Although Toro is a man of few words, it is obvious from his interactions with his teammates that he is very well-respected by them. And it doesn't hurt that his language skills help him to communicate with all of his teammates.

I will leave you with some final words from Toro that sum up who he is as well as any others that he could have shared with me. When pressed to say something in French, Toro declared, "J'aime beaucoup le baseball. That means I love a lot of baseball."

Thank you for your time, Abraham, and best of luck as the season continues to unfold.