Angel Morales

[nicksaviking]

Morales was picked in the 3rd round of the 2007 draft, and while he has not advanced too far up the organizational ladder, it should be pointed out that aside from Ben Revere, no player drafted by the Twins in 2007 or any year after, have made it to the major leagues.

 

Morales is a 22-year old right-handed outfielder athletic enough to play either of the three positions. In the past, his power and speed combination invoked compliments a la Alfonso Soriano. Unfortunately he also carries with him the same high strikeout rate, and in this organization, strikeouts have killed the hopes of better prospects than Morales.

 

To date, his peak is still his 2008 Rookie League year at E-ton. His .301/.413/.623 line gave hopes for a high ceiling. As expected, he took a step back in his move to Beloit in 2009. His power remained viable but his OBP dropped 250 points to .784. Still his numbers would continue to rival fellow outfielder and top prospect Aaron Hicks who he would be outfield partners with for most of the next four seasons. His numbers continued to underwhelm through 2011 when he suffered an elbow injury that kept him out sporadically, managing to appear in only 37 games at Ft. Myers. He has since been seperated from Hicks, and while it has been a small sample size, both have been producing in this early season. While Morles' strikeout rate is still around 1 per game, his .861 OBP is his highest since his 2008 E'ton season. Look for Morales to fight it out with Oswaldo Arcia to see who is first promoted to New Britain if Mark Dolenc and Darin Matroianni continue to struggle at the AA level.

[nicksaviking]

After a hot start in which he was named the leagues player of the week, Morales has come back to earth. In the last ten games he has managed only seven hits and 2 RBI. Four of his last five games he has gone hitless and five times in the last ten has he had a two strikeout game.

 

Dispite his recent struggles, Morales is still the Miricale's leader in OBP, AVG and OPS. Currently all three Ft. Myers OF'ers are struggling but hopefully the carrot of promotion entices all of them to a stronger performances.

[nicksaviking]

Morales' hot start is even further in the rear view mirror as the slump continues. Over his last ten games he is batting .152 netting only five hits, striking out 12 times compared to only three walks. A promotion does not soon look likely and seven year veterans rarely stay in A ball. The clock is ticking, this season may be his last with this organization.

[nicksaviking]

Morales' unproductiveness continues. While he has collected 3 hits in last 2 games, that total matched how many he had in the previous 8 games combined. Over his last 10 games he has 14k compared to his 1 BB. His + defense isn't going to carry him much longer. A difficult decsion may very well be in the cards for the Twins on this young man.

[nicksaviking]

The good news for Morales is that his strikeout rate has decreased over the last 10 games with only 7 in 31 plate appearances. The bad news is the increased contact is not leading to hits as he has only managed three over that span with 1 BB to boot. His season .547 OPS in A ball is alarming. As he should be due a 40 man roster spot next year and he clearly does not deserve one, Morales could be a casualty later this summer as the short season leagues get underway and some rosters start to get shuffled.

[nicksaviking]

Nothing to see here. Although he hit a HR two days ago it was his first since week one, and it was the only one of his six hits over his last ten games that was for extra bases. The fact that the Twins went pitcher heavy in the draft may help him keep a roster spot through the season though he likely does not desrve one. The end is near for this former prospect.

[nicksaviking]

Morales hit a game winning three run HR Monday, but that hit was his only one in the last five games. His line is down to .205/.270/.279.

[nicksaviking]

Over the last couple of weeks Morales doubled his HR total to 4. Those were his only extra base hits. His strikeouts have been down over the last couple of weeks and his walks have increased but he's still hitting .209/.282/.287.

[nicksaviking]

Morales tripled last night and scored 2 runs. It was his only hit of the night, and only 5th in the last ten games. He is still doing well to draw walks and has not had a 2 strikeout game in two weeks, but the balls he's putting in play are not falling in there.

[greengoblinrulz]

April 23gms 86ABs .302/.371/407 10runs 4doubles 1triple 1HR 8rbi 29k 10bb 4/5sb

Since 63gms 191ABs .168/.260/.262 27runs 2doubles 2triples 4hr 18rbi 61k 24bb 2/4sb

 

Many people say the 22 yr old is super talented but when is the point where you give up on him. This is his 3rd yr in High A to no results.

[nicksaviking]

Morales has yet to have anything close to sustained positive offensive streak going this year. 2012 has been a disaster and it quite likely could mean the end of his run with the Twins. 12 K's to 0 BB in his last 10 games along with a .206 average. Even if he has a couple of strong weeks to end the season, I don't think there is a chance for redemption.

[nicksaviking]

Morales ended his season on his first prolonged hot streak of his year. The last ten games saw him push is OBP over .300 finally and his BA was raised to .220. He walked more than he struck out over the last two weeks and he ended up with 7 HR and 12 SB.

 

His hot streak did little to salvage his disaster of a season though. This was his sixth in the Twins organization and though I believe he still has one more year until minor league free agnecy (it goes without saying he won't be selected in the Rule V draft) it would not be surprising if the Twins parted ways with the soon to be 23-year-old who would be destined to repeat A+ ball for a fourth year. This orgainzation is extremely deep in capable outfielders and giving a guy who hasn't had an OPS +.800 since 2008 may not be the smartest decision.