After stellar sophomore Notre Dame campaign, Estevan Moreno is primed for a career year

For a college baseball player competing in the Atlantic Coast Conference, his first 100 games are designed for growth, and getting accustomed to a more accelerated game than what is showcased at the high school level. After handling exactly that amount particularly well throughout his first two seasons with Notre Dame Fighting Irish baseball, junior infielder Estevan Moreno has put himself in a position to break out in 2025.

The third-year player is as sure-handed a defensive infielder around, notching a career 0.972 fielding percentage through 431 total opportunities. Moreno does not profile as a particularly rangy middle-infielder, but a quick first step and his ability to routinely play through the ball have given him efficient jumps on contact his way, allowing him to button up the Fighting Irish infield.

On the offensive side, Moreno has had his fair share of ups and downs early on. Despite struggling during his first season in which he batted just .209 for the Fighting Irish, he made 51 starts in 52 games played as a true freshman. Moreno may not have been finding much success, but the innings and plate appearances he was shown by then first-year head coach Shawn Stiffler were invaluable to the young player. Those early reps allowed him to generate an approach, one that would unlock him as a weapon for Notre Dame baseball moving forward.

Moreno has grown in the sense that he has learned to trust his hands, and his mechanics. His focus became very simple following his first taste of Division I baseball: “seeing the ball up and swinging at pitches {he} should be hitting, and seeing the ball low and not chasing,” Moreno said.

His basics-centric process at the plate proved to be a crucial player in his success during the 2024 NCAA season. During his sophomore campaign Moreno slashed .275/.363/.625 with 13 home runs, nearly double the amount in that category from a year prior in six less games played. Seeing the ball in the zone became a priority for the Illinois native, who struggled with discipline against the craftier pitchers of the collegiate level.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish slugger ready to roll

Opposing arms found success in setting up fastballs off the plate as a product of their ability to locate breaking pitches in the zone. As a sophomore, the infielder showed a maturity to his offensive game, which began to come along.

His chase rate sank 6.1 percent from 2023 to 2024 according to Synergy Sports Radar, while in particular against opposing fastballs that number dropped from 39 percent to 31 percent in that same span. His ability to stay more poised allowed him to see his pitch, and capitalize on it.

With a natural power tool and a good bat path, Moreno found success and was a bright spot for a Fighting Irish team that had underachieved as a ballclub in 2024. The infielder led the program with 17 doubles while registering 40 runs batted in, and not to mention logged a pair of games in which he hit three home runs in each (he did so once as a freshman as well). He was also effective in the run game, stealing seven bases without being caught.

As he looks ahead to 2025 as a much more polished and confident player, Moreno has sizable expectations for his team, and for himself as well. “We are big on wanting to come to the field and being ready,” Moreno said. “Everyone has each other’s backs. We are ready to go and get after it.”

Considering Moreno can stay in the strike zone and tag baseballs the way everyone knows he can, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish will have themselves an absolute star who can play multiple positions around the field.