Cody Morris

Organization Prospect Rankings

• 
  Ranked New York Yankees #27 prospect in 2024
  BA Grade: 45/Very High
  
  Track Record: Morris missed his freshman season at South Carolina after having Tommy John surgery before bouncing back to have a solid college career. Morris has continued to deal with injuries in pro ball, including shoulder strains in each of the last two years that have limited him to just 92 innings. When he’s been healthy, he’s been impressive, however. He made his major league debut in 2022 and was a part of the Guardians’ playoff roster that year.
  
  Scouting Report: Morris has a strong build and a powerful arm. His fastball reaches 98 mph and averages 95.2 mph. He mixes in a changeup, a curveball and a cutter, which he added to his arsenal in 2021. His changeup is above-average and his cutter quickly became a foil to his fastball which he throws about a third of the time. He rarely mixes in his curveball, but it is an effective offering. He pitches with average control, but when he’s at his best he shows even better command.
  
  The Future: Injuries have been Morris’ greatest obstacle as a professional and he hasn’t had a full season since 2019. Despite that, he’s gotten to the big leagues and shown he can have success at the level. He has the stuff to start, but as a 27-year-old who has never thrown more than 90 innings in a season--including college--a role in the bullpen is where Morris fits best. If he’s healthy in 2024, he’ll have a spot in the Guardians’ bullpen.
  
  Scouting Grades Fastball: 60 | Curveball: 45 | Changeup: 55 | Cutter: 50 | Control: 50
• 
  Ranked Cleveland Guardians #17 prospect in 2023
  BA Grade/Risk: 50/High
  
  Track Record: Morris missed his freshman season at South Carolina due to Tommy John surgery before bouncing back to have a solid college career. Morris has continued to deal with injuries in pro ball, including a shoulder strain that cost him the first half of 2022, and has thrown just 171.1 innings in the minor leagues. However, when he's been healthy he's been impressive and he made his major league debut in September and was a part of the Guardians' playoff roster.
  
  Scouting Report: Morris has a strong build and a powerful arm. His fastball reaches the upper 90s and sat at 95 mph in 2022. He mixes in a changeup, a sharp curveball and a cutter, which he added to his arsenal in 2021. His changeup is above-average and both his cutter has quickly become a crucial pitch, accounting for about a third of his pitches. He pitches with average control, but when he's at his best, he shows even better command.
  
  The Future: Injuries have been Morris' greatest obstacle as a professional and he hasn't had a full season since 2019. Despite that, he's gotten to the big leagues and shown he can have success at the level. He has the stuff to start, but as a 26-year-old who's never thrown more than 90 innings in a season (including college), a role in the bullpen may be where Morris fits best. He'll have a chance to start 2023 back with the Guardians.
  
  Scouting Grades: Fastball: 60. Curveball: 45. Cutter: 50. Changeup: 45. Control: 50.
• 
  Ranked Cleveland Guardians #15 prospect in 2022
  Track Record: Morris missed his freshman season at South Carolina due to Tommy John surgery before bouncing back for a solid college career. He’s pitched well since Cleveland drafted him in 2018 and in 2021 overcame a delayed start to his season due to a strained lat muscle, delivering a breakout second-half performance after getting back to action in July. He finished the season with Triple-A Columbus.
  
  Scouting Report: Listed at 6-foot-4 and 205 pounds, Morris has a strong build and a powerful arm. His fastball touched 99 mph in 2021 and averaged 96. He mixes in a changeup, a sharp curveball and this year also added a cutter that gets into the low 90s. His changeup is above-average and both his breaking balls are promising offerings. As important as his swing-and-miss power stuff ticking up this year was his improved command. He did a better job controlling his body and pitched with average control.
  
  The Future: The gains Morris made in 2021 were very encouraging and the Guardians added him to the 40-man roster in November. Now he needs to show he can maintain his improvements over a full season. He’ll start 2022 back in Columbus and could be in the mix to make his major league debut later in the season.
  

Draft Prospects

• Ranked #292 prospect in 2018 draft
  Drafted in the 32nd round by the Orioles out of high school in 2015, Morris is now a draft-eligible sophomore at South Carolina. Morris is a big-bodied righthander listed at 6-foot-5, 222 pounds who possesses a starter's frame but fringy command. Morris can scrape the mid- to upper 90s with his fastball, generally working 92-95 mph, but due to his long arm action he has difficulty repeating his release point and has issues locating his power breaking ball. That slider grades below-average, but he does feature an above-average changeup. When he's on, Morris has ace-like stuff and he's shown improvement over the course of the season--actually pitching better for the Gamecocks during SEC play (4-2, 3.71, 51 IP, 15 BB, 57 K). That performance could be enough for Morris to enter pro ball after South Carolina's postseason run, as he's projected to land in the seventh or eighth round. But he does have leverage if he decides to return to South Carolina for his junior season.
• Ranked #266 prospect in 2015 draft
  Morris entered the spring as one of the top righthanded prep arms in the class. His high-effort delivery drew criticism throughout the showcase circuit, but his stuff more than made up for the lack of gracefulness in his delivery. His fastball worked in the low 90s with heavy sink last summer, peaking at 94. Morris also showed the makings of an above-average changeup. This spring, however, Morris looked stiff early on, and was shut down with forearm tightness in mid-April. Morris eventually found out that he had ruptured his UCL and that he needed Tommy John surgery. Morris is a safe bet to end up at South Carolina next fall, but when he's healthy, he has extraordinary raw stuff.

• February, 2023 Scouting Report
  BA Grade/Risk: 50/High
  
  Track Record: Morris missed his freshman season at South Carolina due to Tommy John surgery before bouncing back to have a solid college career. Morris has continued to deal with injuries in pro ball, including a shoulder strain that cost him the first half of 2022, and has thrown just 171.1 innings in the minor leagues. However, when he's been healthy he's been impressive and he made his major league debut in September and was a part of the Guardians' playoff roster.
  
  Scouting Report: Morris has a strong build and a powerful arm. His fastball reaches the upper 90s and sat at 95 mph in 2022. He mixes in a changeup, a sharp curveball and a cutter, which he added to his arsenal in 2021. His changeup is above-average and both his cutter has quickly become a crucial pitch, accounting for about a third of his pitches. He pitches with average control, but when he's at his best, he shows even better command.
  
  The Future: Injuries have been Morris' greatest obstacle as a professional and he hasn't had a full season since 2019. Despite that, he's gotten to the big leagues and shown he can have success at the level. He has the stuff to start, but as a 26-year-old who's never thrown more than 90 innings in a season (including college), a role in the bullpen may be where Morris fits best. He'll have a chance to start 2023 back with the Guardians.
  
  Scouting Grades: Fastball: 60. Curveball: 45. Cutter: 50. Changeup: 45. Control: 50.
• December, 2022 Scouting Report
  BA Grade/Risk: 50/High
  
  Track Record: Morris missed his freshman season at South Carolina due to Tommy John surgery before bouncing back to have a solid college career. Morris has continued to deal with injuries in pro ball, including a shoulder strain that cost him the first half of 2022, and has thrown just 171.1 innings in the minor leagues. However, when he's been healthy he's been impressive and he made his major league debut in September and was a part of the Guardians' playoff roster.
  
  Scouting Report: Morris has a strong build and a powerful arm. His fastball reaches the upper 90s and sat at 95 mph in 2022. He mixes in a changeup, a sharp curveball and a cutter, which he added to his arsenal in 2021. His changeup is above-average and both his cutter has quickly become a crucial pitch, accounting for about a third of his pitches. He pitches with average control, but when he's at his best, he shows even better command.
  
  The Future: Injuries have been Morris' greatest obstacle as a professional and he hasn't had a full season since 2019. Despite that, he's gotten to the big leagues and shown he can have success at the level. He has the stuff to start, but as a 26-year-old who's never thrown more than 90 innings in a season (including college), a role in the bullpen may be where Morris fits best. He'll have a chance to start 2023 back with the Guardians.
  
  Scouting Grades: Fastball: 60. Curveball: 45. Cutter: 50. Changeup: 45. Control: 50.
• April, 2022 Scouting Report
  BA Grade: 50/Extreme
  
  Track Record: Morris missed his freshman season at South Carolina due to Tommy John surgery before bouncing back for a solid college career. He&#39s pitched well since Cleveland drafted him in 2018 and in 2021 overcame a delayed start to his season due to a strained lat muscle, delivering a breakout second-half performance after getting back to action in July. He finished the season with Triple-A Columbus.
  
  Scouting Report: Listed at 6-foot-4 and 205 pounds, Morris has a strong build and a powerful arm. His fastball touched 99 mph in 2021 and averaged 96. He mixes in a changeup, a sharp curveball and this year also added a cutter that gets into the low 90s. His changeup is above-average and both his breaking balls are promising offerings. As important as his swing-and-miss power stuff ticking up this year was his improved command. He did a better job controlling his body and pitched with average control.
  
  The Future: The gains Morris made in 2021 were very encouraging and the Guardians added him to the 40-man roster in November. Now he needs to show he can maintain his improvements over a full season. He&#39ll start 2022 back in Columbus and could be in the mix to make his major league debut later in the season.
• December, 2021 Scouting Report
  Track Record: Morris missed his freshman season at South Carolina due to Tommy John surgery before bouncing back for a solid college career. He’s pitched well since Cleveland drafted him in 2018 and in 2021 overcame a delayed start to his season due to a strained lat muscle, delivering a breakout second-half performance after getting back to action in July. He finished the season with Triple-A Columbus.
  
  Scouting Report: Listed at 6-foot-4 and 205 pounds, Morris has a strong build and a powerful arm. His fastball touched 99 mph in 2021 and averaged 96. He mixes in a changeup, a sharp curveball and this year also added a cutter that gets into the low 90s. His changeup is above-average and both his breaking balls are promising offerings. As important as his swing-and-miss power stuff ticking up this year was his improved command. He did a better job controlling his body and pitched with average control.
  
  The Future: The gains Morris made in 2021 were very encouraging and the Guardians added him to the 40-man roster in November. Now he needs to show he can maintain his improvements over a full season. He’ll start 2022 back in Columbus and could be in the mix to make his major league debut later in the season.