Starter or Reliever: Where Should Andrew Morris Fit In?

[Nate Palmer]

Image courtesy of Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images

The Minnesota Twins are looking for pitchers in their gutted bullpen and now in their rotation, which had its depth shaken up by the now-official news that Pablo López will undergo Tommy John surgery on Wednesday. That leaves a prospect like Andrew Morris in a unique place. With the subtraction of López, Morris moves up the starter pecking order, but if the darts thrown at veteran relievers don’t work out, should Morris be considered as a reliever? 

The 24-year-old right-hander has drawn plenty of comparisons to fellow Twins starting pitcher Zebby Matthews. Both have added considerable velocity to their four-seam fastball, and both had a quick ascension through the minor league system. In 2024, Morris began the season at High-A and closed it out at Triple-A St. Paul as he threw 133 innings across three levels. His 2025 season was interrupted by a forearm strain, but he threw 94 ⅔ innings with a 4.09 ERA and still showed encouraging developmental signs. 

Two aspects of Morris’ game that are clear positives for him are that he has a good four-seam fastball and has been good at limiting walks. Morris also has a vast pitch mix in addition to his four-seamer (sinker, cutter, curve, slider, and change), which could help him continue to develop and profile as a starter as long as each of those pitches performs well against MLB hitters. 

 

The effectiveness of Morris’ entire arsenal seems to be something the Twins still need more confidence in before he can make the jump to the majors. His fastball has average pure vertical break at 16.33 inches and vertical run at 5.36 inches. Morris’ four-seamer is his most used pitch at 29.8% last season, sits at 94-96 MPH, but has touched 98 MPH when needed. While Morris’ fastball looks like his best pitch in many ways, it is also the pitch that has been hit the hardest, with a 47.67% hard hit percentage. 

The rest of Morris’ mix outside of his sweeper seems to fall within the pitching “dead zone” when it comes to movement, making them much less deceptive and easier for opposing batters to hit. Across the board, Morris would be well served if he could develop more shape to his pitch mix, helping him as he mixes and matches against opponents. 

Image from Prospect Savant

The site Prospect Savant gives Morris an overall good score, but in its ranking of each pitch individually, that ranking gets interesting. The site uses a psStuff+ stat, which mimics the Stuff+ stat we're all more familiar with. Using psStuff+, only Morris’ cutter (104) and sweeper (103) rank above the 100 threshold.  

This makes Morris’ cutter a very interesting pitch. As psStuff+ highlights, the cutter may have the best characteristics of any of Morris’ pitches, but it has produced some of the worst expected results of any of his pitches. This seems like an immediate area where improvement could yield big gains for the right-hander and boost his ranking as a starter in the Twins system.   

If Morris were to move to being a one-inning reliever, we could expect the velocity on his fastball to improve, and he would also likely focus on trimming down his pitch mix and could lean into his sweeper, which is the one other good movement pitch outside of his four-seamer and the aforementioned cutter. Completely cutting out the other secondary pitches wouldn’t be absolutely necessary, as other starters turned relievers have kept their full arsenal to help them with their effectiveness. There's a chance that cutting some of those secondary pitches may negatively affect how he attacks left-handed hitters. 

Based on the recent developments in the Twins free agency activity and Lopez’s injury, it doesn’t make sense at this point to move the 24-year-old Morris away from starting. If the time came later in his career or late in the season where the team needed a talented arm to move into the pen, Morris is a pitcher who could follow a long line of one-time starters to make that transition, whether it would be permanently or for a shorter stint. For now, more time starting in St. Paul makes the most sense for Morris.  

What would be your plan for handling Morris going forward? What role do you believe will unleash his maximum effectiveness?

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[LambchoP]

Gotta keep him as a starter until it looks like he won't stick. Then move him to the pen and let him air it out. I think moving all these young guys to relief roles just because we have a need in the pen is a bad long term plan. Starters are much more valuable than relievers.

[Linus]

Appreciate these breakdowns of the pitching prospects. He will likely get a taste of the show this year. 

[bean5302]

Injury replacement depth this year, probably.
Lopez
Ryan
Ober
SWR
Bradley
Matthews

AAA
Abel
Festa
Prielipp
Morris
Rojas
Culpepper

With the loss of perennial rotation depth Dobnak, the conversion of Raya, Adams, Baker, Lewis and Klein to bullpen arms, Ohl's move to the Rockies and other shifting, the AAA starter rotation pool is thinner than what you'd be led to believe based on articles and comments here on TD. While the MLB ready depth might be pretty solid, there's a vacuum behind AAA right now. 

Morris probably doesn't have upside beyond #5 starter right now. Abel, Festa, Prielipp and Rojas all have a much higher expected ceiling at the moment.

Morris will likely see MLB starts this year, but as a short term spot starter. The kind of guy you don't worry about optioning up and down to fill a start or two, but not the number you call when you need 4+ starts or something like that.

The high end prospect arms in the system aren't likely to pitch above AA this year, let alone to start the year. Guys like Quick, Bohorquez, Hill, and Soto. So there's a need for rotation depth at AAA.

[thelanges5]

Keep him a as a starter. I agree with this Jamie Cameron take from Bluesky and I’d add Morris to the mix. 

Cameron:
My position this season for the Twins is - ensure you end 2026 knowing exactly what you have with your young pitching players.

Zebby, Abel, Festa, Klein, E Rod, Culpepper, Jenkins, González when those guys are ready.

Know who you got!

[mark sills]

As someone who has watched a lot of Andrew Morris games . He should continue being a starter. I feel he should be given the chance to be in the top five during spring training and let the best five represent. the team. He is more than ready to take on the challenge. Last year in spring training and the beginning of the year he didn't give up a earned run in his first five outings, Then someone got a tell on him and that's when he had a bad spell, then was hurt. Towards the end of last year he was right back to form.

If they do move him to a relief pitcher, he will compete at a high level, 

[DannySD]

I feel like Morris will be a bulk reliever on the shuttle most of the year, and the projected bullpen doesn't really have any of those guys. If they want a long reliever on opening day, I can see him starting the year with the Twins. 

[KnoblauchWasFramed]

It's amazing how this team can take a starter who has amazing potential and works as a starter all the way through the minors just to hit the big leagues and get moved to a relief arm almost immediately.  Jhoan Duran being the most recent famous case of this.  The Twins just bail out instantly the second a young starter starts to show the slighest flaw.  No attempt to repair the kid, just off to the bullpen and then sign a dumpster diving washed up starter in Free Agency for $12M a year.  Griffin Jax and Louie Varland as the most recent famous cases of this.  

[DataNerd]

Agree with most to keep him as a starter for now and reevaluate in a few months.  If he doesn't show progress, it's fine to move him to the pen, but he's close enough that improving a secondary or a tick or two on the fastball could make him a solid starter.

[NYCTK]

51 minutes ago, KnoblauchWasFramed said:

It's amazing how this team can take a starter who has amazing potential and works as a starter all the way through the minors just to hit the big leagues and get moved to a relief arm almost immediately.  Jhoan Duran being the most recent famous case of this.  The Twins just bail out instantly the second a young starter starts to show the slighest flaw.  No attempt to repair the kid, just off to the bullpen and then sign a dumpster diving washed up starter in Free Agency for $12M a year.  Griffin Jax and Louie Varland as the most recent famous cases of this.  

Twins haven't signed a starting pitcher to a major league deal since 2022, and haven't given $12+ million to a free agent SP since 2018. 

[HerbieFan]

The "vast arsenal" screams starting pitcher.  Wonder if they will try to streamline that arsenal a bit to try and get to 3-4 plus pitches.  If that doesn't work he could maybe got the Jax route - fastball, change, hard slider and move to the pen in 2027.

[Cory Engelhardt]

1 hour ago, KnoblauchWasFramed said:

It's amazing how this team can take a starter who has amazing potential and works as a starter all the way through the minors just to hit the big leagues and get moved to a relief arm almost immediately.  Jhoan Duran being the most recent famous case of this.  The Twins just bail out instantly the second a young starter starts to show the slighest flaw.  No attempt to repair the kid, just off to the bullpen and then sign a dumpster diving washed up starter in Free Agency for $12M a year.  Griffin Jax and Louie Varland as the most recent famous cases of this.  

Do you really think the Twins are unique in terms of taking starters who can’t make the jump to major league starting successfully and transitioning them to the bullpen?

[terrydactyls]

"The site uses a psStuff+ stat, which mimics the Stuff+ stat we're all more familiar with."

Says who?  I thought PnStuff was a cartoon character and PnStuff+ was his older brother.  I guess I'll stick to my personal favorite measure:  Can he get people out? 

[bean5302]

2 hours ago, KnoblauchWasFramed said:

It's amazing how this team can take a starter who has amazing potential and works as a starter all the way through the minors just to hit the big leagues and get moved to a relief arm almost immediately.  Jhoan Duran being the most recent famous case of this.  The Twins just bail out instantly the second a young starter starts to show the slighest flaw.  No attempt to repair the kid, just off to the bullpen and then sign a dumpster diving washed up starter in Free Agency for $12M a year.  Griffin Jax and Louie Varland as the most recent famous cases of this.  

Griffin Jax and Louie Varland failed to produce at the MLB level in the rotation. Both were given ample opportunity to impress, and both struggled.

Jax got 14 starts and produced a 6.10 ERA with a 6.24 FIP with a poor K rate, and he struggled to strand runners without a good out pitch.

Louie Varland was just about as bad. A 5.18 ERA and 5.37 FIP with a weak K rate and tons of hard contact allowed across 18 starts.

Duran wasn't even 9 months removed from UCL replacement surgery when the Twins had him in the bullpen. If they had decided to keep him as a starter, there was zero chance he would have been available until the 2nd half of 2022. Instead, they were aggressive in getting Duran into the show. 

Almost every single reliever in baseball is a failed starter.

[bean5302]

3 hours ago, mark sills said:

As someone who has watched a lot of Andrew Morris games . He should continue being a starter. I feel he should be given the chance to be in the top five during spring training and let the best five represent. the team. He is more than ready to take on the challenge. Last year in spring training and the beginning of the year he didn't give up a earned run in his first five outings, Then someone got a tell on him and that's when he had a bad spell, then was hurt. Towards the end of last year he was right back to form.

If they do move him to a relief pitcher, he will compete at a high level, 

Morris got an invite to Spring Training, and that's more than the Twins needed to give him. It's a shot to impress again and potentially make his case, though I'd consider him to be a long shot if there aren't additional injuries.

[Geno48]

5 hours ago, LambchoP said:

Gotta keep him as a starter until it looks like he won't stick. Then move him to the pen and let him air it out. I think moving all these young guys to relief roles just because we have a need in the pen is a bad long term plan. Starters are much more valuable than relievers.

Yes,…try to develop some staerters.   Apparently Twins don’t value relievers anyway….given Falvey’s fire sale.    Let’s hope Shelton has a better understanding of pitching than Baldelli.

[gman]

Will he be 1 of the best 13 pitchers in camp? If so, can he slam the door on other teams for 2-3 innings at a time 2x per week?  Does he need to pitch in the style of a 1 inning closer type.  i think it would be good if the Twins could have 2-3 pitchers who can shut down other teams for 3 innings at a time. If these guys can prove it at the major league level, then they could role into a starter role when the need arises.

[Twinsrtheworst]

6 hours ago, bean5302 said:

Injury replacement depth this year, probably.
Lopez
Ryan
Ober
SWR
Bradley
Matthews

AAA
Abel
Festa
Prielipp
Morris
Rojas
Culpepper

With the loss of perennial rotation depth Dobnak, the conversion of Raya, Adams, Baker, Lewis and Klein to bullpen arms, Ohl's move to the Rockies and other shifting, the AAA starter rotation pool is thinner than what you'd be led to believe based on articles and comments here on TD. While the MLB ready depth might be pretty solid, there's a vacuum behind AAA right now. 

Morris probably doesn't have upside beyond #5 starter right now. Abel, Festa, Prielipp and Rojas all have a much higher expected ceiling at the moment.

Morris will likely see MLB starts this year, but as a short term spot starter. The kind of guy you don't worry about optioning up and down to fill a start or two, but not the number you call when you need 4+ starts or something like that.

The high end prospect arms in the system aren't likely to pitch above AA this year, let alone to start the year. Guys like Quick, Bohorquez, Hill, and Soto. So there's a need for rotation depth at AAA.

So about 12 in the rotation 

[JD-TWINS]

7 hours ago, LambchoP said:

Gotta keep him as a starter until it looks like he won't stick. Then move him to the pen and let him air it out. I think moving all these young guys to relief roles just because we have a need in the pen is a bad long term plan. Starters are much more valuable than relievers.

“….moving all these young starters” is way more than needs to be done to help the PEN be competitive.

Raya is making the move. They need maybe one or probably two more of the “starters” to make a shift. Festa is probably the next most logical due to arm health issues……… that leaves, IMO, Morris or Matthews or Prielipp.

Prielipp has “potential” for a higher ceiling and they have 3-5 lefthanders in or near the PEN now…….it’s probably not him.

Klein is in the mix for ‘26 PEN.

Morris and Matthews are essentially clones …..low walk rates in the Minors, increased velocity that touches 98 once in a while, 6 pitch mix with only the slider/sweeper as the real Plus pitch. One of them needs to lose 2-3 pitches and move into the backend of the ‘26 PEN………if the Team cares about competing and not just going through the motions. Cole Sands can’t routinely be looked on to close games……..a blend of 2/3 guys including Sands once in a while……OK. 

 

[mark sills]

5 hours ago, bean5302 said:

Morris got an invite to Spring Training, and that's more than the Twins needed to give him. It's a shot to impress again and potentially make his case, though I'd consider him to be a long shot if there aren't additional injuries.

when your on the 40 man you go to spring training, and guarantee if he wasn't on the 40 man he would of been a rule 5

[bean5302]

12 hours ago, mark sills said:

when your on the 40 man you go to spring training, and guarantee if he wasn't on the 40 man he would of been a rule 5

I didn't realize the Twins had added Morris/needed to add him to protect him from the rule 5 last November.

[old nurse]

Given that the pitching staff has basically question marks after Ryan and SWR, the number of starters needed may well reach 9. Morris would be around  number 7 with Festa and Rojas.  He needs to stay as a starter 

[mikelink45]

If the lists I have seen here are accurate move him to the pen.  He is too far down the list and can always be stretched out if we go that far.  But for now every live arm we have should be used to bolster the pen. 

[DJL44]

I think Morris would be just as up-and-down as a reliever as he currently is as a starter. He seems like a 5th starter / middle reliever and those guys are needed over the course of the season.

[jmlease1]

Morris is going to be an interesting one to watch this season. I suspect he will have to trim his pitch mix, at least initially, if/when he gets to MLB; it's hard to see him having 6 pitches that are actually usable against MLB hitters. But it will be interested to see whether focusing on a smaller arsenal allows him to improve those pitches and command them more consistently, or whether he was fooling people more often because there were so many choices for what was coming at the hitter? It's interesting.

Even if he cuts things down to being a fastball-sweeper-cutter pitcher, that could be enough of a primary arsenal to stay in the rotation, depending on how his L-R splits start looking. Curious to see how the cutter develops for him and if that is the pitch that becomes the best 3rd offering for him.

Hope he stays healthy. Too me he looks ready to slot in as one of the first options up from AAA if/when we need reinforcements. My guess right now is that the MLB rotation starts out as Ryan-Ober-SWR-Bradley-Matthews, with Festa a candidate to a) not be ready from Day 1, and b) move to the bullpen and then have Abel as the first call up from AAA with Morris right behind him. (I think Rojas needs work after a mess of a time in AAA in 2025, and won't be a real consideration until midseason at best) If they leave Festa in the rotation, then he's probably ahead of Morris presuming equal health. (I really don't know where Preilipp fits at this point?)

Morris has talent. Hope he can stay on the field and pitch enough to continue his development by refining his pitches.