There are many Minnesota Twins pitching prospects who had a lot of hype and high expectations around them entering spring training. However, few lived up to both in their spring outings like Andrew Morris did.
Considered by many to be Minnesota’s top pitching prospect, Morris zoomed his way through the minors last season, staying a step behind Zebby Matthews as Matthews went from Single-A to the majors. Morris’s journey stopped in Triple-A last season but was still impressive. He posted an impressive 2.37 ERA over 133 innings, a 24.5% strikeout rate, and a 5.9% walk rate.
Morris has continued to build off that success this spring, throwing seven scoreless innings in three spring outings for the Twins. He has a 0.87 WHIP with two walks and two hits. Morris only had five strikeouts but still had 15 swings and misses on his pitches.
Despite his impressive showcase in big-league camp, it was unsurprising that he was part of the second round of cuts from the Twins’ spring training roster when they optioned Morris to minor-league camp on Tuesday. Morris will likely start the season in St. Paul as a part of a dominant starting rotation. Still, he won’t be the first man the Twins call up if they need a starter. Morris isn’t on the 40-man roster, and David Festa and Matthews sit ahead of him on the depth chart.
Fortunately, in his first big-league camp, Morris showed the moment wasn’t too big for him, going up against the Detroit Tigers, Atlanta Braves, and Toronto Blue Jays’ major-league hitters. Although the Twins limited his pitch count, Morris was getting hitters out, allowing only one base runner to get into scoring position. (Garrett Cooper had a double off Morris on March 4.)
Like every pitcher in spring training, Morris had pitch count limits. He only threw more than 40 in his last outing on Tuesday in Dunedin. Even though he only had five strikeouts in seven innings, he still had an impeccable command of the strike zone in his outings. Only 19 of Morris’ 69 pitches thrown in those outings landed out of the strike zone for a 72.4% strike rate.
Morris’ strikeout numbers will increase as he continues to build up his workload for the start of the season. He and almost every other pitcher in the Twins Minor League system will be on pitch count limits for the first month of the season. Assuming he’s in the Saints rotation to start the year, he will likely get one of the first three starts in the opening series against the Pittsburgh Pirates Triple-A squad but throw no more than five innings or 70 pitches, whichever comes first.
Suppose Morris, Festa, and Matthews get those first three starts at CHS Field this season. Then, expect veterans Randy Dobnak, Huascar Ynoa, and fellow prospect Aaron Rozek to be the piggy-backers coming out in long relief.
Morris has done what he needs to do in spring training. He’s proven that everything is in the right place for who he is as a pitcher while adding a sinker and a curveball to his arsenal. He will still work on those pitches with Saints pitching coach Jonas Lovin ahead of the season. Morris may use one or both come April, depending on how effective the pitches are on the Twins’ backfields at the complex and any other games.
But besides tinkering with new pitches, Morris is exactly where he needs to be for the Twins to start 2025. Everything looks good for him; the question is more of a when than if he will make his MLB debut in 2025. The opportunity will present itself at some point. Until then, Morris doesn’t need to overachieve or be anything more than he already is on the mound.
