Moses makes debut at Lee County Complex

It took a lot longer than he, his father and the Minnesota Twins had planned, but Matt Moses finally made his professional baseball debut Thursday afternoon at the Lee County Sports Complex in Fort Myers.

Minnesota did not finalize Moses' contract until they received medical clearance from Miami cardiologist Dr. Evan Zahn last weekend. Zahn applied a patch over a tiny hole in the 18-year-old's heart a week ago today after the condition was discovered during a routine physical examination.

Moses, the Twins' first-round draft choice (and 21st pick overall) in June's first-year player draft, went 2-for-3 with two runs scored Thursday for the Gulf Coast League Twins, Minnesota's rookie league affiliate. They beat the Fort Myers Red Sox, 7-5, in five innings.

"I watched him play and Matt did all right," said Jerry Moses, Matt's father. "I think they're going to give him a couple of days before putting him out in the field but Matt claims he's breathing easier. He's actually better now than he was when they scouted him."

Fort Myers cardiologist Dr. Michael Danzig initially diagnosed Moses' condition and recommended Dr. Zahn for a second opinion and to perform the procedure. Jerry Moses said it was a simple procedure that, "has been 80,000 times."

According to Moses, the only surgical part involved making a very small incision in Matt's thigh to run a catheter up through a vain and to the heart. The Twins and Moses agreed that it would have been a mistake to put it off any longer, Jerry Moses said.

Apparently Matt's condition resulted in the right side of the heart pumping excess blood into the lungs and effecting stamina and endurance. His prognosis now is very good.

"He's back in the swing of things, literally if not figuratively," Jerry Moses said. "He looked good at the plate and it didn't look like he had six weeks off."

Moses will be back in action today at noon in Fort Myers, and then the Twins head to Sarasota for a road game Saturday. Jerry Moses said he and Matt's older brother, Mitchell, might try to catch the game in Sarasota since it's on their way back to Virginia.