Andrew Morris

[Major League Ready]

I was pretty impressed with Andrew Morris yesterday.  I actually went back and watched his performance a 2nd time.  He does not look like a dominating top of the rotation guy but his stuff looks pretty similar to Joe Ryan to me.  What do you all think?   Is his ceiling back of the rotation or is there more there and how far off is he?

[Brock Beauchamp]

I don't even know how to grade Twins starting prospects anymore. Morris is interesting in the same mold as Ryan, Ober, Matthews, etc. This front office is very good at getting the most out of right-handed arms, time will tell whether the trend continues with Morris. He's not a flame thrower but like SWR, seems to just know how to get hitters out (though SWR's track record was far more volatile).

It's hard not to be excited about the Twins rotation for the foreseeable future.

[tony&rodney]

Watched Andrew Morris several times last season. He surprises with his fastball and keeps batters off balance on a regular basis. The pitching motion is a little unique and may disguise the pitches to a degree. Hard to know this early if he just has an innate idea of how to pitch or picks up hints from hitters on what pitches to throw. What Morris did yesterday to a pretty decent Toronto lineup squares with what I saw last year. The velocity is good and his cutter is tough for left-handed bats. A key might be if he can improve even more with his command, which is already close to top shelf. The strikeouts rate is good and Morris keeps the ball off the barrel. Like all pitchers, he sure would appreciate better defense behind him. 

In September last season I was higher on Festa than Matthews and Morris. Now, it is a toss up between the three guys. As a former long time coach i never thought my work (any tips or advice I gave to a player) was exclusive. The player is the one who implements ideas and deserves the credit. All, or at least most, organizations deliver similar messages to their players. The  progress made should rightly go to the player. 

[Linus]

It doesn’t appear that he has amazing stuff but was very impressed with his control / command.  Used all his pitches and put them where he wanted to.  Looks to me like a solid back of the rotation guy and there ain’t nothing wrong with that.

[tony&rodney]

7 minutes ago, Linus said:

It doesn’t appear that he has amazing stuff but was very impressed with his control / command.  Used all his pitches and put them where he wanted to.  Looks to me like a solid back of the rotation guy and there ain’t nothing wrong with that.

That's exactly what I thought when I watched him last year. After his outing a week ago, I wondered if Morris could possibly morph into a Shane Bieber pitcher as a ceiling. However, anyone who can become a solid #3-5 MLB starting pitcher deserves a nod of respect. 

[Major League Ready]

27 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

Watched Andrew Morris several times last season. He surprises with his fastball and keeps batters off balance on a regular basis. The pitching motion is a little unique and may disguise the pitches to a degree. Hard to know this early if he just has an innate idea of how to pitch or picks up hints from hitters on what pitches to throw. What Morris did yesterday to a pretty decent Toronto lineup squares with what I saw last year. The velocity is good and his cutter is tough for left-handed bats. A key might be if he can improve even more with his command, which is already close to top shelf. The strikeouts rate is good and Morris keeps the ball off the barrel. Like all pitchers, he sure would appreciate better defense behind him. 

In September last season I was higher on Festa than Matthews and Morris. Now, it is a toss up between the three guys. As a former long time coach i never thought my work (any tips or advice I gave to a player) was exclusive. The player is the one who implements ideas and deserves the credit. All, or at least most, organizations deliver similar messages to their players. The  progress made should rightly go to the player. 

Right there with you on Festa / Mathews and Morris last year.  Matthews looks a little better tome right now.  Obviously, that's a small sample size and maybe I am seeing something that won't translate but his fastball looks like it has more life this spring and the breaking stuff a little more consistent.  Have you noticed this at all?

[tony&rodney]

Just now, Major League Ready said:

Right there with you on Festa / Mathews and Morris last year.  Matthews looks a little better tome right now.  Obviously, that's a small sample size and maybe I am seeing something that won't translate but his fastball looks like it has more life this spring and the breaking stuff a little more consistent.  Have you noticed this at all?

Yes. It looked like Matthews worked in the offseason to refine his pitches. He definitely has more movement this March than he did in AA/AAA/MLB last year. The experience he gained in September was huge. He now knows first hand that he has to be more than a control pitcher to get guys out in the majors. In October I had Festa, Matthews, Morris as the clear next best starting pitchers. Today I would go Matthews and then a toss between Morris and Festa. Festa needs better command but he likely has a higher ceiling than Morris. Matthews has a pitcher's body. The fact that he has improved his stuff and is a control pitcher should help. Still, taking the next step is huge and difficult.