The Minnesota Twins had a lot of questions coming into the season and one of the biggest was their bullpen. In some ways, the Twins still haven't solved their group of relievers as they entered the All-Star break with the second-worst bullpen ERA in baseball at 5.19. But they have found some diamonds in the rough including Andrew Morris.
Morris began the year as one of the Twins' top pitching prospects and was promoted to the major leagues to help the bullpen. While the transition had a rocky beginning, it's starting to pay off as Morris has thrown 17 straight scoreless innings including a pair in Sunday's win over the Los Angeles Angels .
For a bullpen that's had trouble coming into focus, Morris's emergence is turning into a huge storyline that could change everything for the Twins' bullpen going into the second half.
Morris's breakout was born out of opportunity. At the beginning of the year, you couldn't blame Twins fans if they sounded like they were in the diner scene from Major League and Morris joined the group when he was promoted from Triple-A St. Paul on April 11.
The transition was rough as Morris posted a 5.28 ERA and issued 11 walks with 31 strikeouts in his first 20 appearances (29 innings) but things turned a corner beginning with a June 12 appearance against the St. Louis Cardinals .
That outing helped Morris pick up his second career save by setting down the Cardinals in order. But it also started a 17-inning scoreless streak. Morris's control has also improved as he's issued four walks (one intentional) and hit a batter over his last 15 appearances and he's starting to miss bats with 17 strikeouts during that time.
The best part is that Morris is starting to adjust to life as a reliever. Baseball Savant lists Morris with low chase (27.5%) and whiff rates (23.3%) going into the All-Star break, but hitters aren't squaring him up as Morris's 3.1 percent barrel rate ranks in the 97th percentile of qualifying pitchers.
Sunday's performance against the Angels also shows just how far Morris has come. Morris had four pitches above 99 mph over his two innings of work and even hit triple digits for the highest velocity of the game. Morris also forced six swing and misses during the outing, which was the third most of the game behind Angels reliever Chase Silseth and Twins starter Taj Bradley .
If Morris can build off his recent success, it's a massive development for the Twins' bullpen. The Twins have been actively trying to piece a bullpen together and their work has not only helped Morris make a successful transition but also discover Yoendrys Gomez, who was claimed off waivers from the Milwaukee Brewers in May.
Gomez and Morris could form the back end of the Twins' bullpen and if they can find a left-hander to replace Anthony Banda , the rest of any deadline shopping would be for middle relievers who could bridge the gap to the late innings. The Twins could use another starter to lighten that load but the bullpen to-do list is much shorter now that Morris has begun to get comfortable as a major leaguer.
This article was originally published on www.puckettspond.com as Andrew Morris's breakout could change everything for the Twins bullpen .
