First-round draft pick Colin Moran waited five pitches to make an impression as a Miami Marlins minor leaguer.
Moran homered in his first at-bat for Class A Greensboro on Wednesday night, when the third baseman from the University of North Carolina made his professional debut.
Drafted with the reputation of being a line-drive gap hitter, Moran sent a 2-2 pitch over the right-field fence. It was his first at-bat against live pitching in nearly a month.
The solo homer helped the Grasshoppers defeat the Charleston RiverDogs 4-3 in Greensboro, N.C. Moran finished 1 for 3 with a walk.
Moran, 20, signed with the Marlins on Friday after being taken with the sixth overall pick in June's draft. He's the nephew of former major leaguer B.J. Surhoff and the brother of Brian Moran, a pitcher in the Seattle Mariners system.
According to the Grasshoppers official website, Moran's mother was on hand to watch her son's pro debut. Moran's dad, however, was in Las Vegas watching Brian pitch in the Triple-A All-Star game.
Charlie McCarthy can be reached at mac1763@bellsouth.net
or on Twitter @mccarthy_chas.
