After losing five of their last six games, including two to the worst team in the American League ( the Athletics ), Minnesota trails the Cleveland Guardians by four games for the final American League Wild Card spot. Before their recent rough skid, which began with a 3-0 series sweep from the San Diego Padres , the Twins held the final Wild Card spot with a 63-65 record.
Not one person deserves blame for the Twins' rough stretch. However, poor performances from one of Minnesota's top relievers, right-hander Andrew Morris, are impossible to ignore.
Morris entered Wednesday night's game against the Athletics in the sixth inning with one out and a runner on first base while Minnesota led 4-2. The inherited runner scored, and Morris allowed three earned runs on four hits to give the Athletics a 6-4 lead. The Athletics scored one more run in the seventh inning and won the game 7-4.
Morris entered Saturday's game against the Padres in the seventh inning with the Twins leading 5-2. The right-hander allowed four runs as San Diego ultimately won 7-5.
Granted, Saturday's loss wasn't all Morris' fault . One of the baserunners he allowed reached via a catcher's interference, and another scored on a missed-catch error by third baseman Brooks Lee . Still, Morris allowed three hits in the inning.
Morris also blew a game against the Philadelphia Phillies on Aug. 16. The right-hander entered the game in the eighth inning with the Twins leading 5-4. Morris surrendered three earned runs on four hits and an intentional walk, giving Philadelphia a 7-5 lead, which ended up being the final score.
Again, the sole blame for those losses doesn't belong to Morris. The offense could've tacked on more runs, and Dean Kremer allowed four late runs in the loss to the Phillies. Still, if Morris hadn't blown those three games, the Twins would be just one game out of a playoff spot.
Before his blown outing against the Phillies, Morris had a 2.98 ERA. Now, his ERA is at 3.79. In August, the right-hander has an ERA of 7.45 over 9 2/3 innings.
The Twins should still give Morris late-inning opportunities this season. He has an expected ERA of 3.12 (85th percentile), an expected batting average of .229 (64th percentile) and a hard-hit rate of 32.8% (86th percentile) this year. Of the four hits he allowed on Wednesday, only one registered above 90 mph. And as stated earlier, the rough outing against the Padres wasn't all his fault.
This article was originally published on www.puckettspond.com as Twins high-leverage reliever is struggling at the worst possible time .
