Morel Having Wild Season With Chicago Cubs
Cinderella, in the fairy tale, wore a sparkly dress on her way to the ball.
Chicago Cubs utility player Christopher Morel is wearing pants and cleats but the jaw-dropping effect is the same. Fans and coaching staff have been watching his meteoric rise since being called up to the Cubs on May 8.
For small context, Chicago is six games back of .500 with a record of 20-26 and sits third in the National League Central.
Morel is a power hitter and his statistics are proving it: slashing .370/.396/.957 with eight homers and 14 runs batted in. In the vein of that eighth homer, Morel made Chicago history with it on Sunday.
He became the first Cub in franchise history (at least since 1901) to have eight homers in the first 11 games of a season. Oh and by the way, Morel has also recorded at least one hit and has scored at least one run in all 11 games he’s played this season.
If that's not easily the best man in the Cubs lineup, I don't know who it would be.
Even back to his time with the Triple-A Iowa Cubs, Morel was bringing the power. It made him the best hitter in the minor leagues with a .330 batting average, 1.156 on-base and slugging percentage in 29 games.
Now for all of his slugging prowess, there is a reason that Morel started 2023 in the minors. His offensive approach is far from perfect. In 134 plate appearances with the I-Cubs, he was striking out 30.6 percent of the time. That puts him a hair under his mark in the big leagues in 2022 (32.2%).
But the rest of his stats would make any baseball fan (especially Cubs fans) swoon. Morel has 11 home runs, 31 RBI, and a 12.7% walk rate.
Since coming up in May, his strikeout rate isn't still ideal, sitting at 37.5 percent after Sunday’s game. But his offensive performance makes up for it so it's a delicate balance. He's a boost to the Cubs lineup anywhere — at the top, middle or bottom of it.
His swings can be game-changing. He just needs to work on control. If Morel can learn to temper it at times, the sky's the limit.
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