Minneapolis – The Minnesota Twins have used Andrew Morris in various roles out of the bullpen this season. He’s been a long relief man, an opener, and now is settling into a short relief role. He’s only thrown a full inning or less dating back to June 10.
Over those nine outings, Andrew Morris has pitched to a 1.04 ERA over 8 ⅔ innings, struck out 10 batters, walked three, and allowed just two hits. With the shorter outings, Morris has also seen more consistent use in medium- to high-leverage spots out of the bullpen. It’s given him a bit more consistency of what to expect each time the bullpen phone rings, and they call his name.
“I feel like I’m getting the hang of it,” Morris said. “Definitely feeling more comfortable, every single day, every single outing. Learning something new, I think, so just building on that and getting back to myself and getting to two strikes quickly and pounding the zone, getting strike one and strike two. I think that’s been really the key.”
“This is a guy that was a starter, then he pitched on the four-day thing that we do in the minor leagues,” said Twins manager Derek Shelton. “Then he comes to the big leagues, and it’s some leverage, some not leverage [with] as fluid as our bullpen has been. It’s just getting used to what that role is, and I think we have to remember, this is a 24-year-old kid.”
Morris has been averaging two appearances a series, dating back to June 12, except for Minnesota’s series in Arizona. Going from a starting role at the start of the year in Triple-A St. Paul to giving it his all for three outs has also helped him work on some of the things Morris struggled with early in his call-up to the majors – namely, executing strikes.
Over his first 16 appearances, Morris was walking hitters at an 8.5% rate and had a .278 opponents’ average over 23 ⅔ innings. In his last 12 outings, those numbers have improved to a 7.1% walk rate and a .275 opponents’ average. Even if hitters are making about the same contact for hits, he’s starting to execute better.
“Yeah, just going and attacking,” Morris said. “You know it’s easier said than done, to not necessarily worry about who’s in the box. And I think now I’ve focused really on what I can control and just attacking, and I can’t worry about what the batter’s doing or anything like that.”
“You rarely see 24-year-old kids, like, ‘OK, hey, you’re going to pitch in the back of the game. You’re going to pitch in leverage.’ It just doesn’t happen,” said Shelton. “So, I think a little bit is just comfort. A little bit is just the execution has gotten better, and then in total, it’s just reps. He needs reps in those spots.”
Those reps will continue to come for Morris in the second half. Morris has already faced Shohei Ohtani, the best player in the game, twice in the past week. He intentionally walked Ohtani in the first game, then gave up a single in the second.
As a result, he shouldn’t feel as much pressure facing opposing pitchers for the rest of the year.
Andrew Morris has focused more on what’s under his control. As a result, he’s added more velocity to his fastball. Morris’s fastball velo is sitting at a 96.4 MPH average on the year, but has been averaging closer to 97.5 MPH over his last five outings.
Having to get only three outs a game compared to nine, 12, or even 15 is a contributing factor to an uptick in Morris’s velo. But Morris says the uptick comes from him not thinking about it as frequently as he was when the Twins first called him up.
“I was like, ‘It’s cool, I’m throwing hard.’ But I would rather be able to execute with whatever I have, and I think that’s been the focus,” said Morris. “So it’s like I realize I can execute with 96 or 97, or maybe I can try to blow doors with 100, like, I feel like 96 to 98 is where I’m executing my best. And just letting go, so then I can be smooth and in the flow. I think that’s kind of part of it.”
The early results have played out well for Andrew Morris in his high-leverage role out of the bullpen. Between his performance lately and those of Anthony Banda and Yoendrys Gomez, the Twins look like they finally have three relievers they can count on in high-leverage roles.
Morris’ mentality suits that role, especially as Shelton has come to know him.
“He’s one of those pitchers that, I think, if he could pitch every day, he would be happy,” Twins manager Derek Shelton said regarding Morris. “He wants to be a position player. He wants to be involved. And when you’re a starter, you get to do it once every five or six days. He likes the competition of being able to do it every day.”
