Akeel Morris Stats & Scouting Report

IP	22
ERA	6.136
WHIP	1.909
BB/9	6.136
SO/9	6.545

Full name Akeel J. Morris
Born 11/14/1992 in
Profile Ht.: 6'1" / Wt.: 205 / Bats: R / Throws: R
School Charlotte Amalie
Debut 06/17/2015
Drafted in the 10th round (302nd overall) by the New York Mets in 2010 (signed for $120,000).

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Morris attends the same high school in the U.S. Virgin Islands that outfielder Jabari Blash graduated from before heading to Miami-Dade CC. Morris has a live arm that generates a fastball that was 87-89 mph an touched 90-91 in October at the World Wood Bat Championships. He was a little erratic then and showed he certainly needs some polish--not surprising for a high school arm from the Virgin Islands. He also threw a slurvy breaking ball in the low 70s and a mid-70s changeup. According to a Virgin Islands newspaper he was up to 94 this spring.

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Morris became the 12th player born in the U.S. Virgin Islands to appear in a big league game when he made his debut on June 17, 2015. Having spent the 2014 season in the low Class A Savannah bullpen, however, he wasn't ready for the challenge, and he allowed six of eight batters faced to reach base. Morris turned in another excellent season on the farm in 2015, when he split his time between high Class A St. Lucie and Double-A Binghamton and ranked second among qualified minor league relievers with a .137 opponent average and eighth with 11.9 strikeouts per nine innings. A long, swinging arm action and over-the-top arm slot add deception to his 91-95 mph fastball. Morris generates the majority of his swings and misses with a double-plus changeup he sells with arm speed and ridiculous separation from his fastball. He occasionally throws a fringy slider to righthanders. Morris still walks too many batters and lacks command, so batters get to him from time to time when he has to bring his pitches in the zone. He might need another development year in 2016 to reach his ceiling.
Morris attended high school in the U.S. Virgin Islands and turned pro as a Mets 10th-round pick in 2010 for $120,000. He struggled to throw strikes as a starter, but a full-time shift to the bullpen at low Class A Savannah in 2014 revitalized his career, for he led South Atlantic League relievers with 16 saves, a .103 opponent average and strikeout rate of 14.1 per nine innings. Thin and wiry, Morris throws from a deceptive over-the-top slot that features a slow takeaway and long arm swing. He sits at 92-94 mph with riding life on his fastball up in the zone, but his top weapon is a plus changeup that typically features up to 15 mph of separation from his heater as it dives for the bottom of the zone. He throws an occasional high-70s slider to righthanders to keep them honest, but it's a below-average pitch. Moving to the bullpen suits Morris' pitching style in which he can exert full effort on every pitch and not worry about painting corners. Expect the club to be more aggressive with him in 2015 now that he's on the 40-man roster.