Cody Morris started five games for the Guardians in September, 2022 with middling results. Is he a middling pitcher?
- Born: November 4, 1996
- B/T: Right/Right
- 6’4″, 205-lbs
- Drafted by the Cleveland Indians (now Guardians) in the 2018 MLB June Amateur draft out of University of South Carolina.
The Numbers
His raw numbers are listed above courtesy of baseball-reference.com. Let’s aggregate by year then focus on the important numbers for minor leaguers:
I put this chart into the dictionary under the term “MLB is hard.” There Morris goes, sailing along from level to level, and upper levels at that, just striking out the world even while issuing a few too many walks. But striking out so many, his WHIP just kept emerging pristine and clean.
Then he reaches the majors, his strikeout rate gets cut in half, and now it’s “nice WHIP you got there, shame if anything were to happen to it…” See, when you walk about 10% of the batters you face, and you don’t strike out 30-50% of them, your WHIP rises like the ire of a holiday traveler who just had his second flight delay of the day.
Monthly Splits
No need for monthly splits as he spent July in Rookie ball, August in Triple-A, and then September into October at the major league level. The splits are right there in the previous section.
Ah, but there is the problem with Morris: He didn’t pitch until July due to injury. In fact, he hasn’t pitched at least 90 innings in any season of his professional career thanks to injuries. As a starting pitcher that’s not good.
Handedness K% and BB%
AAA (vs RH): 53%K and 5%BB. (vs LH): 50%K and 18%BB.
MLB (vs RH): 24%K and 11%BB. (vs LH): 22%K and 13%BB.
As I said, MLB is hard. Not much of a split though. He walks a touch more against lefties, but he strikes out about the same, so he’s consistent.
Pitch Types
Morris has two chief weapons that are plus: His mid-to-upper 90s four-seam fastball that explodes up in the zone. And his 12-to-6 curve with late drop. His changeup and cutter are also in his arsenal, but just average pitches, though he can use his changeup effectively against LHB.
His FB velocity in the majors wasn’t that great, but his spin was fantastic.
The Scouts
- Rotowire: #75 on their Top 400
- Fantrax: #139 on their Top 400
- RotoProspects: #164 on Top 500
Warnings
We’d like to see his strikeout ability to expand in the majors. If he could strike out 40-50% of minor leaguers, I’d like to see him strike out 30+% of major leaguers to make up for his 10% walk rate.
Or tighten up his control, and live with a 25-30% strikeout rate.
Oh, and stay healthy.
Conclusion
He has the pitches and skills to be a #4 or #5 starter in the majors. That’s a valuable piece.
As a fantasy arm, the WHIP will be harmed until he improves his control.
Look for improvement in 2023 where he will be 26 years old. It’s time.