Andrew Morris gets the Call as the Twins Seek Bullpen Reinforcements

[Jamie Cameron]

Image courtesy of William Parmeter

Andrew Morris is getting the call. Twins Daily’s #12 prospect is joining the team in Toronto for a three-game road trip. He’s expected to pitch out the bullpen with right-hander Cody Laweryson being placed on the injured list.

Morris was drafted in the fourth round of the 2022 draft out of Texas Tech (114th overall). After making short work of the lower minors in 2023, he spent parts of three seasons in Triple-A dealing with injuries and searching for consistency. After throwing 94 2/3 innings for St. Paul in 2025 (4.09 ERA, 4.14 FIP), he looked good in two outings (7 1/3 IP) in 2026 (1.23 ERA, 2.93 FIP).

Morris has been a consistent strike thrower throughout the minor leagues, maintaining walk rates that oscillated between 4.5% and 8%. As for the pitch mix Morris will bring to the table, he’ll throw up to six pitches in a kitchen sink type approach. He throws all three fastball shapes, his four-seamer sitting 95 mph and topping out at 98 mph. Morris also mixes in a slider (84 mph), a slower curveball (75 mph), and a firm changeup (89 mph).

While Morris’ production has been consistently effective throughout his minor league career, he began to generate less swing and miss in the upper levels of the minors, raising doubts about whether he can start in the majors (he's neither a pronator or a supinator, leading to a lack of outlier vertical or horizontal movement on his pitches). Getting an opportunity to contribute in the bullpen is the perfect introduction for Morris. The role should allow his stuff to play up and give him the best possible chance to succeed while adjusting to major league hitting.

In addition, Ryan Kreidler is taking Royce Lewis's spot on the 26-man roster. Lewis is out with a knee sprain. 

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[CRF]

I bet we see him today.

[LewFordLives]

I feel bad for Laweryson. His career was just starting to get a little traction. "Right forearm strain" can sometimes be indicative of bad things to come. Hopefully it's nothing serious.

[bunsen82]

Dang Laweryson - he was in my top 4 relievers I don't completely cringe with when coming out to pitch LOL.  

[Major League Ready]

Hate to see Laweryson go down to injury but I am looking forward to seeing if his stuff plays at the ML level.  He profiles quite well to convert to a late inning RP.

[Permanent Twins Fan]

Nice to see Morris finally get the call. A couple of years ago he was one of the Twins top pitching prospects before injuries derailed him at AAA. If he manages to keep the injuries in check, he has the stuff to be a middle to high end reliever, and the Twins bullpen desparately needs that. 

[tony&rodney]

Rough break for Laweryson; he was finally getting a chance to pitch and looked really good. I'm a little disappointed that Andrew Morris doesn't get more time to experiment and develop his craft at the AAA level. He is the Saints best pitcher but he will now be thrust into the bullpen and be required to get outs in tough situations. I'm probably higher on Morris than most, but have felt he was still in need of more experience with commanding multiple pitches as well as refining a couple of pitches that he has been working on in the last year. Hopefully he transitions smoothly.

Ryan Kreidler will be an upgrade on Lewis in the field but    .......   his bat? There really isn't another option though unless the Twins were ready to give Kaelen Culpepper 300 PA to prove himself. Culpepper is hitting the ball but he also looks like it would be beneficial for him to get a couple more months of AAA before any promotion.

[LA Vikes Fan]

Glad to see the Twins go for the 24 year old Morris rather than a waiver pickup/retread like Kent or Altavilla. This year is for development. Let’s see what the young guys can do. 

I get bringing up  Kreidler for defense at SS and CF, and I hope it’s a prelude to sorting out the bench. We now don’t need Outman since Kreidler can back up CF. I’d really like to find a way to bring up GG or Emma and get them playing time. That probably means losing Outman and either Larnach or Clemens so we’re still a couple of steps away. 

[jmlease1]

It'll be interesting to see how they use Morris: 1 inning at a time, or will he be asked to go 2+? I think I'd like to see how he does going 2 innings or so twice a week in this bullpen. You'd think he wouldn't be placed as a classic long man, but if they're hoping to have his stuff play up more they might be looking to see what he looks like in 1 inning stints. It'll be interesting.

Good opportunity for Morris; we'll see what he does with it. Bummer about Laweryson who was doing well and looking effective.

[mikelink45]

I am wait and see on Morris, but the fact that Royce is down again is discouraging.  We once had such high hopes for him.  Now with Kriedler coming to the plate without a bat our lineup is definitely weakened.  Who are our minor league 3B candidates besides Culpepper?  Are any of them close?

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[The Great Hambino]

I Don't Know is once again at third base

Does Gray get the bulk of the starts with Lee at SS most days and Kriedler a true backup/defensive replacement?  Or does Kriedler get a chance to show he can hit even a little bit? 

 

[Patzky]

38 minutes ago, CRF said:

I bet we see him today.

If they call Banda hang up quick.

[Patzky]

6 minutes ago, The Great Hambino said:

I Don't Know is once again at third base

Does Gray get the bulk of the starts with Lee at SS most days and Kriedler a true backup/defensive replacement?  Or does Kriedler get a chance to show he can hit even a little bit? 

 

He always shows he can hit 'a little bit'. I guess as long as some other no hit wonders aren't in the lineup (Outman, Clemens, Wallner) we can maybe try Kriedler at 3B.

[The Great Hambino]

1 minute ago, Patzky said:

He always shows he can hit 'a little bit'. I guess as long as some other no hit wonders aren't in the lineup (Outman, Clemens, Wallner) we can maybe try Kriedler at 3B.

I'd prefer they slide Lee/Gray over to 3B if they want to start Kriedler.  Lee's likeliest MLB future path is as a utility IF, wouldn't hurt to get a few reps in preparation, especially considering the improvement at SS Kriedler provides

[jorgenswest]

I think the 3B options are Culpepper at SS with Lee at 3B. Clemens has played 3B. Tristan Gray can play 3B. Wagaman and Kreidler can play 3B. I would like them to bring up Rodriguez with Kreidler. DFA Outman and play Rodriguez in RF. He will be a big upgrade defensively there. Bell moves to first and that will be a drop defensively but the others are at best mediocre. Clemens or Gray at 3B with maybe Kreidler against a lefty. They might also play Gray/Kreidler at SS with Lee at 3B. Martin played mostly 3B at Vanderbilt as well as some CF. The Blue Jays tried to make him a SS but I wonder if he can play a passable 3B. Here is a report from 2020 as the draft approached.

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While he’s played around the field in his career, most scouts think he’ll handle center field well as a professional and some think there’s a chance he could also handle shortstop if given the opportunity to play there regularly. Second or third base would also be easy “fallback” positions for him.

 

[DJL44]

I thought Wagaman would get the call. Kreidler and Outman on the same bench is brutal.

[GopherMike]

45 minutes ago, LewFordLives said:

I feel bad for Laweryson. His career was just starting to get a little traction. "Right forearm strain" can sometimes be indicative of bad things to come. Hopefully it's nothing serious.

It's also his second forearm strain. He had one last year too. 

[GopherMike]

1 minute ago, DJL44 said:

I thought Wagaman would get the call. Kreidler and Outman on the same bench is brutal.

Wagaman is nothing. The Reds DFA'd Christian Encarnacion and I'm hoping the Twins will snag him. Wagaman has no real functional upside and is a super marginal 40-man guy.

Kreidler at least offers defensive versatility

[DJL44]

1 minute ago, GopherMike said:

Wagaman is nothing. The Reds DFA'd Christian Encarnacion and I'm hoping the Twins will snag him. Wagaman has no real functional upside and is a super marginal 40-man guy.

Kreidler at least offers defensive versatility

Wagaman can platoon with Gray at 3B. Kreidler is a player you limit to 1 inning a game to make sure he never bats.

[tony&rodney]

Kreidler is easily the best defensive player on the roster. A comment above on how this affects James Outman is interesting. I think the Twins see this as just a 10 day placement with no other moves. Bringing up an outfielder, ostensibly for better offense, would definitely have a ripple effect though. The Twins can't really promote a prospect from AAA and let him sit on the bench. Emmanuel Rodriguez (as an example) would need to play every day or 5 times per week. Right now Austin Martin is showing that he can field, run, and get on base. Martin should be in the lineup at least 5 times per week. What does that then mean for Larnach or Wallner. So I think the Twins just keep Outman.

Does Kreidler play at all except for once a week? He is a far superior shortstop to Brooks Lee and likely creates an out or three per game more than Lee. However, Lee is the shortstop and pretty young, which means it is unlikely he is replaced. Seems like Kreidler will mostly sit or play a little third base despite the obvious benefits of him playing shortstop. 

Kreidler has basically been Royce Lewis at AAA. He has drawn walks, strikes out, can run, hits a couple extra base hits but is not a bat to watch. Lewis is a Twins love story whose draft position trumps many realities of his tough career thus far. Kreidler can swing from his heels too. 

How the Twins use Kreidler will be interesting to watch.

[DJL44]

Rooting for Morris to pitch well enough that he sticks around 

[thelanges5]

Whatever they do, let’s hope it cleans up the defense on the left side of the infield.
 

per Jamie Cameron:

The left side of the #MNTwins infield is worth -8 OAA after 13 games 😱

[GopherMike]

3 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Wagaman can platoon with Gray at 3B. Kreidler is a player you limit to 1 inning a game to make sure he never bats.

If you’re a bench bat, you need to either really hit or have some carrying tool that makes the roster fit. Wagaman is a pretty awful third baseman defensively, he can't run, and he has a career wRC+ OF 85. 

Kreidler may be ugly on a bench with Outman, but at least he gives you real defensive utility at positions where the Twins actually need coverage right now. I’m not calling him good. I’m saying he has a clearer functional use than Wagaman does.

I really don't know what we are keeping Wagaman for, other than we have basically awful 1B options all around. 

[GopherMike]

5 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

How the Twins use Kreidler will be interesting to watch.

I agree that this is more interesting than it appears on the surface. 

Do the Twins use this as an opportunity to give Brooks more play at 3B?
Do they give Kreidler a chance to show he's anything better than Outman?

My guess is Royce is probably out through April, which is about 20 games. That's a not-insignificant window.

[DJL44]

4 minutes ago, GopherMike said:

If you’re a bench bat, you need to either really hit or have some carrying tool that makes the roster fit. Wagaman is a pretty awful third baseman defensively, he can't run, and he has a career wRC+ OF 85. 

Kreidler may be ugly on a bench with Outman, but at least he gives you real defensive utility at positions where the Twins actually need coverage right now. I’m not calling him good. I’m saying he has a clearer functional use than Wagaman does.

I really don't know what we are keeping Wagaman for, other than we have basically awful 1B options all around. 

Wagaman has a career 730 OPS against lefties. Platoon him with Gray and you can piece together a third baseman. I’ve seen dozens of articles here discussing how the Twins have difficulty against LHP.

Kreidler has a career 277 OPS against lefties. His WRC+ is 11.

[strumdatjag]

27 minutes ago, Patzky said:

He always shows he can hit 'a little bit'. I guess as long as some other no hit wonders aren't in the lineup (Outman, Clemens, Wallner) we can maybe try Kriedler at 3B.

And Matt Wallner looked lost defensively on a few plays in Right Field in Toronto yesterday as well.  

[DataNerd]

44 minutes ago, mikelink45 said:

I am wait and see on Morris, but the fact that Royce is down again is discouraging.  We once had such high hopes for him.  Now with Kriedler coming to the plate without a bat our lineup is definitely weakened.  Who are our minor league 3B candidates besides Culpepper?  Are any of them close?

 

Winokur/Amick/Young, all no.

[GopherMike]

6 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Wagaman has a career 730 OPS against lefties. Platoon him with Gray and you can piece together a third baseman. I’ve seen dozens of articles here discussing how the Twins have difficulty against LHP.

Kreidler has a career 277 OPS against lefties. His WRC+ is 11.

*shrug*

I don't think carrying a roster-spot for someone to hit .730 OPS just against lefties and just to play 3B (poorly) makes sense.

Kreidler can’t hit, obviously. Nobody is arguing otherwise. The point is that he actually solves a real roster problem right now. Wagaman doesn’t. “Maybe he can fake a platoon at third because he’s been less bad vs lefties” is not much of a role.

[DJL44]

3 minutes ago, GopherMike said:

*shrug*

I don't think carrying a roster-spot for someone to hit .730 OPS just against lefties and just to play 3B (poorly) makes sense.

Kreidler can’t hit, obviously. Nobody is arguing otherwise. The point is that he actually solves a real roster problem right now. Wagaman doesn’t. “Maybe he can fake a platoon at third because he’s been less bad vs lefties” is not much of a role.

It’s more of a role than “replace Brooks Lee on defense in the 9th inning when the Twins have a lead”.

[Brett]

Lee, Gray, Kreidler means we have 3 utility guys on the roster with 2 of them starting. This makes me want to leave a wake up call for June when Culpepper is promoted.