Twins’ Andrew Morris Just Keeps Improving
Righthander Andrew Morris is 6 feet tall, or close to it.
While that is above-average for the general population, it is not tall for a professional baseball pitcher.
It’s an underrated advantage, the Twins have discovered.
“He’s not short. He’s just a little shorter than most of our guys,” Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey said. “(That) gives you a little different look, a different arm slot.”
“Scouts will tell you: Don’t be average. Don’t be what hitters are used to seeing. In some small way, Andrew isn’t.”
He’s exactly what the Twins hoped to see when they drafted him out of Texas Tech in the fourth round in 2022.
“A guy who really just has a good feel for pitching, with a pitch mix that gave us something to develop,” Falvey said. “He had all the ingredients but needed a little more reliability, more consistency.
“That’s probably how he ended up in the fourth round, because he sure wouldn’t go that low now.”
Adding those characteristics have helped Morris rise quickly, mostly by keeping the ball in the strike zone. His fastball topped out around 92 mph when he was drafted, but now it’s regularly 3 mph higher, Falvey said.
Even better, he has struck out nearly five times as many hitters as he has walked since turning pro, then opened 2024 with 43 strikeouts and just seven walks in 37.2 innings for High-A Cedar Rapids.
That and his 2.15 ERA got the 22-year-old promoted to Double-A Wichita in mid May.
“He’s developed the ability to get swings-and-misses when he needs them, while keeping his slider, a really good two-strike pitch, and his changeup consistently in the zone,” Falvey said. “That’s what usually goes sideways for young guys, the ability to do both—but he has risen to every challenge.
“Andrew has been a really good find for us. Credit to him—he’s turned himself into someone who hasn’t stopped improving.”
