Guardians Pitcher Cody Morris Already Showing Promise
When Cody Morris was called up and added to the Guardians roster with September call-ups, the hope was he would be another elite arm to add to the bullpen. But with injuries to Aaron Civale and Zach Plesac, he was forced into the starting role.
It may not be what he's used to and he's definitely still adjusting to the Big League in his two starts, but there still is a lot to like about the young pitcher.
1. Pitch Command
One theme that stayed consistent in Morris' first two starts was his pitch command. In his first start against the Mariners, he only walked two batters in two innings of work. Morris did give up two earned runs in that start, but the bright side to that means he was throwing strikes.
The Mariners have one of the best lineups in baseball. Not an easy team to make your first start against and not giving them free passes on was a great sign of confidence.
Then in Morris' second start against the Royals, he only walked one batter in his four innings of work. Pitch command is something that young pitchers can struggle with, but it doesn't appear Morris has this issue so far.
2. Pitch-To-Contact
Cody may not be putting up crazy strikeout numbers, but that's fine. He's only struck out five batters in six innings of work but he's still been efficient.
Morris has been a pitch-to-contact guy so far and the defense is backing him up. Even though he only struck out three Royals in his second start, he has a streak of retiring nine batters in a row.
Morris isn't afraid to throw strikes and is placing them in great spots for the defense to finish off the play.
3. Offspeed Pitches
There is one pitch group that shows the promise that Morris has. Those are his offspeed pitches which have been nasty!
He hasn't thrown the cutter or changeup a lot, but they've been effective when he does. Morris has yet to give up a hit when throwing an offspeed pitch and they already have a 33 percent whiff rate.
There's so much to like about Cody Morris and the thought of him as a starter or out of the bullpen. He is still on a pretty strict pitch count due to coming back from injury and when he gets the full green light there's no doubt he's going to be a key piece to this pitching staff.
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