Twins No. 1 pick makes pro debut

For the first time in three weeks, Matt Moses didn’t have to deal with any doctors Thursday.

He didn’t have to go to any appointments, do any ultrasounds or EKGs. He didn’t have to sit on a white operating table in a white room and listen to a doctor babble about a tiny hole in his heart.

For the first time in three weeks, Matt Moses played baseball.

That is big news considering everything the 18-year-old has been through recently.

Six days after doctors placed a patch over a hole in his heart, the Minnesota Twins 2003 No. 1 pick played his first professional game. Moses, playing for the Gulf Coast League Twins, went 2-for-3 against the Red Sox at the Lee County Sports Complex.

Thursday’s game marked the culmination of a roller coaster three weeks for Moses, who was the 2003 Gatorade Virginia High School Player of the Year.

Moses’ heart problem was first discovered July 9 in a routine physical, shortly after he inked a $1.45 million signing bonus with the Twins. The third baseman then saw several doctors before Dr. Evan Zahn of Miami corrected the problem last Friday. The operation helps Moses breathe easier.

“We consider ourselves lucky,” said Jerry Moses, Matt’s father. “If he hadn’t been diagnosed, we wouldn’t have known anything about it. And then in a span of 10 to 20 years it could have had an impact on his health.”

Matt Moses had his own personal cheering section Thursday. His father, mother, girlfriend, brother and an AAU coach made the trek from Richmond, Va., Moses’ hometown.

As Moses stepped into the batter’s box for the first time, all five rose to their feet. Dawn Moses, Matt’s mother, stood near the chain-link shaking as her son finally made his pro debut.

“I got cold chills,” Dawn Moses said. “This whole experience, being here right now, is a dream come true.”

After striking out looking in his first at-bat, Moses chopped a ball hard into the ground. The ball rolled a few feet down the first base line and stayed fair.

“Oh, God,” said Matt Moses, when asked about his swinging-bunt base hit. “That was pretty funny. But, hey, it was a hit.”

Afterward, Matt’s AAU coach Robin Rochelle immediately dialed his son, Chris, in Richmond.

“Matt got a hit” Robin yelled on his cell phone.

Chris Rochelle, who is so close to Matt back in Richmond some think he’s his brother, repeated the news to about eight baseball teammates who happened to be at his home.

The teammates, all of whom had played with Matt since they were little tykes, yelled so loud Robin had to pull his phone from his ear.

“Wait, wait, wait,” said Robin, attempting to calm down the boys. “It was a swinging bunt.”

The nine teenagers on the other side of the phone erupted in laughter.

Moses, displaying the mechanics that led scouts to regard him as the best hitting prospect in the 2003 draft, ripped a single into right field later in the game.

Now that his heart is patched up, Moses should have plenty more hits in the future.

NOTE: Minnesota Twins outfielder Michael Cuddyer went 2-for-2 with a three-run home run in his final rehab start in Fort Myers. Cuddyer, who is recovering from a torn left hamstring, will be promoted to Triple-A Rochester today.