It’s 2,533 kilometers from Montreal, Quebec, on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, to Seminole State College in Seminole, Okla., an approximately 25-hour drive through two provinces and five states, but it’s a proven route to Major League Baseball.
Eric Gagne, the flamethrowing closer for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1999 to 2006, was the first player to go from Montreal to Seminole State to the big leagues, and he’s been joined by Venezuelan-Canadian infielder Abraham Toro, who’s now in his seventh season in Major League Baseball.
Toro, who has played for the Houston Astros, Seattle Mariners, Milwaukee Brewers, and Oakland Athletics before landing in Boston with the Red Sox this year, has had an up-and-down career, never spending an entire season in the majors, but contributing off the bench and when injuries have dictated his insertion into the lineup.
With Boston this year, Toro is having the best year of his young career, and this past week, he hit .417 with 10 hits and five RBIs, earning him World Baseball Network’s International MLB Player of the Week honors.
It was a slow start to the week for Toro, who speaks fluent English, French, and Spanish. He went 1-for-7 in the first two games of Boston’s series against the Los Angeles Angels, and then went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored in the series finale, which Boston won 11-9.
But there’s never a better time for a Red Sox player to come up with a big series than on the road in New York, and Toro was a Yankee killer over the weekend. In a three-game set in the Bronx, Toro went 7-for-13 with three doubles, a homer, three runs scored, and three RBIs as Boston took two-of-three from their archrival.
In 28 games with Boston this season, Toro is batting .341/.353/.573 with four homers and 10 RBIs. He’s also played 28 games with Triple-A Worcester, where he’s batted .310/.403/.480 with two homers and 13 RBIs.
The Red Sox host the Tampa Bay Rays for a three-game set Monday through Thursday and host the New York Yankees Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at Fenway Park. All three games of the series against the Yankees will be televised nationally, with Friday evening’s game broadcast live on MLB Network, Saturday night’s game broadcast on FOX, and Sunday afternoon’s game carried on MLB Network.
Photo: The Boston Red Sox’s Abraham Toro hits a single against the New York Yankees during the third inning of a baseball game, Saturday, June 7, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Noah K. Murray)
