For Mets outfielder Nick Morabito, his major league debut in DC also serves as a homecoming

When Nick Morabito boarded the Mets’ team bus this afternoon and began the trek to Nationals Park, the route was all too familiar.

It was the exact route he’d take to Gonzaga College High School as a high schooler raised in McLean, Virginia. He’d always dreamed of playing professional baseball. By the time he was a senior, he believed it was possible.

He was selected with the 75th overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft. Four years later, he’s in line to make his major league debut Tuesday at a stadium less than three miles from where he attended high school.

“It’s surreal,” Morabito said. “Gonzaga is right down the road. I know that there’s a bunch of guys from there coming out and, to be able to represent the G and take it here to the Mets, it’s pretty cool.”

Around 11:30 last night, Morabito gave his parents a ring. Calls at that time of night only come if there’s an emergency. This was a good one: he was heading to the major leagues. He called his siblings, then more family and friends. He packed his belongings and was on a flight this morning.

On Tuesday, Morabito will bat seventh and play left field for the Mets. He’ll debut for a team that has won six of its last seven thanks to an infusion of young outfielders. Morabito joins Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing, two prospects he’s grown with in the minor leagues. And he’ll do it in a familiar place.

Morabito attended Nationals games as a kid, collecting bobbleheads, an Ian Desmond jersey and a handful of memories along the way. He watched icons like Bryce Harper and Juan Soto run around the diamond. On Tuesday, there Morabito was, standing in the visiting locker room as Soto looked on from where he spoke.

“It’s very special,” Morabito said. “I grew up coming to this park, so it’s a pretty surreal moment for me.”

Morabito comes from a baseball family. His father Brian played at James Madison. His uncle John played at Wake Forest and in the Chicago White Sox’s minor league system. So it was only fitting that Morabito picked up the game, too.

When asked how much family would be in attendance, Morabito couldn’t even venture a guess. Among them, though, was Chad Carroll, his high school baseball coach from Gonzaga.

Back in 2018, Carroll was trying to recruit Morabito, then an eighth grader. To convince him, Carroll leaned on family history.

When Carroll was 11 years old, his family moved from the West Coast to Virginia. He joined a Vienna Little League team led by Morabito’s uncle John. The team’s lineup consisted of Carroll and his two brothers and four of Morabito’s cousins. The team also happened to be the Mets: “It’s like a movie script, honestly.”

At the time, Nick was a toddler. Over the years, the two families became close, spending holidays together. When it came time for Morabito to choose a school, he went to Gonzaga. As Morabito got older, they talked about reaching the majors.

“Just growing up in a baseball family and knowing how much of a baseball family the Morabitos are, it’s been a dream for everyone in each family,” Carroll said.

Carroll’s memories with Morabito on the baseball field started in Morabito’s freshman year in 2019. At the time, he was too timid to call off his upperclassmen teammates on fly balls. Carroll screamed at him in front of his teammates. That scared Morabito at the time, but to this day, the two laugh about the interaction.

By the time he was a junior, Morabito was hitting baseballs over the fences in batting practice. No one could find them. It was clear then he had pro potential.

Yet, Morabito and Carroll’s favorite memory came in his senior year. At the time, Gonzaga hadn’t been to a WCAC championship in more than 20 years but finally made it with Morabito as captain. They lost the first of a three-game series against their rival St. John’s. Morabito pulled his teammates aside.

“I’ve never seen a kid pull a group together like that,” Carroll said. “Where he had everyone around him playing at their absolute best. It was special to watch.”

Gonzaga came back to win games 2 and 3 to capture the title, a highlight that both spoke fondly about Tuesday afternoon. In that same season, Morabito earned Gatorade District of Columbia Baseball Player of the Year honors.

Morabito is known for his speed. Now, he has the exit velocities and bat speed to match as he’d matured into his body. To this day, Carroll sees similarities between the player that he coached and the player he is now.

Look no further than a game Carroll attended this spring. Morabito worked a deep count, hit a line drive into the gap, then stole a base in the ensuing at-bat. He imagines Tuesday will be more of the same.

“I’m excited for that first stolen base,” Carroll said. “That was our bread and butter.”