21 months after Tommy John surgery, Morán finally makes MLB return

HOUSTON – It’s been a long road back to the Major Leagues for Red Sox left-hander Jovani Morán. And while protecting a double-digit lead is hardly any reliever’s dream assignment, the 28-year-old left-hander relished his first appearance on an MLB mound in more than two years.

Twenty-one months after undergoing Tommy John surgery, Morán threw two innings Tuesday night in closing out the Red Sox’s 14-1 blowout of the Astros at Daikin Park.

“It’s a big relief, to be honest,” Morán said through interpreter Daveson Perez. “To be able to close the game is something I had been envisioning for a while. It’s awesome.”

While this was no save situation, Morán finished Dustin May’s first victory in a Boston uniform by throwing 22 of his 34 pitches for strikes. Morán allowed three singles and a walk and struck out two. With runners at first and third in the ninth, he appeared to have induced a game-ending double play, but second baseman Ceddanne Rafaela’s wild throw to first allowed Houston’s only run to cross the plate.

“Having not pitched for two years and gone through everything I have gone through, to be out there pitching again … really happy,” Morán said.

Morán came to the Red Sox in a December trade with the Twins, for whom he made 79 appearances from 2021-23. His last one came Aug. 5, 2023, and he had his left elbow surgically repaired that November.

After his Red Sox debut, Morán acknowledged he’d had occasional doubts about resuming his career.

“Probably once or twice I started thinking, 'Maybe I’m not going to be able to pitch again after that surgery,'” he said. “But everything was well. After I got traded, the training staff has been working with me and helping me, and they’ve been always positive. They know it’s a process.

“At the beginning of the rehab, when I started playing catch, I took a couple steps back. But then, probably February, that’s when I started feeling better, able to play catch every day, throwing two, three bullpens a week.”

Morán said it was hard seeing his new teammates leave Fort Myers, Fla., at the end of Spring Training. Just over two months later, his comeback began in earnest.

After two June appearances in the Rookie-level Florida Complex League, Morán pitched four times for High-A Greenville. A dozen outings for Triple-A Worcester followed, and after packing his bags Sunday night for a series at Iowa, Morán got a surprise call from Worcester manager Chad Tracy.

“Trace just told me, ‘That’s good that you finished your luggage,’” Morán said, “‘because you’re not going to Iowa. You’re going to Houston.’”

Besides a changeup that he labels his best pitch, Morán brought with him a four-seam fastball, cutter, slider and curveball, all of which he employed Tuesday. Two changeups set up a swinging strikeout by Chas McCormick on a 93.4 mph four-seamer in the eighth. In the ninth, Morán threw Victor Caratini four fastballs in five pitches before drawing a third-strike swing on a changeup.

A native of Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, and an attendee of countryman Carlos Beltran’s Baseball Academy, Morán pitched for his homeland in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, posting a 1-0 record and 3.38 ERA over three appearances spanning 2 2/3 innings. Red Sox manager Alex Cora, a fellow Puerto Rican, was delighted Morán was able to take a Major League mound again.

“It’s big,” the skipper said Tuesday night. “A kid that I know from back home. He actually pitches for the winter ball team that I help in Caguas. For everything that he’s been through, just to post and be in the big leagues, I know it means a lot.”

Prior to Wednesday’s 4-1 series finale loss to the Astros, Cora said he’d given Tuesday night’s lineup card to Morán as a keepsake.

“He got emotional,” Cora said. “Obviously, the injury was an obstacle in his career, but he worked hard. I was glad that we got him in the offseason. He was very patient throughout the process, patient the last few weeks. He’s been throwing the ball well for a while. That fastball plays. The changeup is really good.”

Morán said his father has long been a Red Sox fan. Late Tuesday night, that only enhanced a phone call back to Puerto Rico.

“He was awake,” Morán said Wednesday. “He was watching the game. He was very happy and proud of his son.”