What's Behind Andrew Morris' Improved Strikeout Numbers This Year?

The Minnesota Twins Player Development department has found its grove with the long-awaited pitching pipeline fans have been craving since the Twins hired Derek Falvey in 2017.

Simeon Woods Richardson, David Festa, and Zebby Matthews all reached the majors this year, exceeding expectations. Matthews was the latest of the three to get his callup for his MLB debut, and someone had to replace him on the St. Paul Saints roster. On Aug. 11, the Twins promoted Andrew Morris to Triple-A. Morris has been a half-step behind Matthews in their rise through the minors this season.

“I was just excited to get back from a 13-hour bus trip to Corpus Christi when I found out,” Morris said. “It was a lot of excitement and a lot of happiness; it felt a lot different from the callup from High-A to Double-A. I gave everyone in the clubhouse a hug, then immediately called my wife, my mom, dad, and a couple of buddies, then I was off.”

Morris joined the Saints on the road in Indianapolis. In doing so, he became the second starter who began their season in High-A with Cedar Rapids Kernels pitching coach Jonas Lovin to make it to Triple-A in three months. Like Matthews, Lovin knew Morris had a high ceiling with his potential. However, he had different hurdles to overcome following his first full year of pro ball.

“He had a really good year, but he was only punching out 17.8% of hitters in High-A at the end of last year,” said Lovin. “We knew going into the year that was going to be a bigger piece for him, but sometimes you get better results when you have a little bit more experience.”

Morris’s strikeout numbers are not as high as Matthews's this year. Still, he’s made an impressive jump from the 17.8% strikeout percentage he had to end 2023. In seven starts with the Kernels this year, his strikeout percentage rose to 27.9% and dropped slightly with Double-A Wichita over 12 games to 25.2%.

It all came down to Lovin helping Morris and Matthews tinker with their sliders in Spring Training. Morris’ changes with his slider allowed him to add a cutter to his pitch arsenal, and they’ve turned into great weapons for him on the mound.

“It’s been a lot more consistent than it was last year,” Morris said. “Last year, it was a little shorter. I think this year, it’s where I want it velo-wise and movement-wise, and so the cutter plays well with that. Especially with my fastball cutting sometimes as well, but we worked a lot on that in Spring Training and my changeup, too, utilizing that to both batters – righties and lefties.”

“It’s basically the same exact thing we did with Zebby,” Lovin added. “He was throwing a different slider last year, and we split it into two pitches. He’s throwing a higher-vert cutter for the lefties now and a lower-vert slider for the righties.”

From a coaching perspective, Lovin has enjoyed watching Morris remain a half-step behind Matthews during his rise through the minors. It’s a testament to Lovin and Morris's work and how the Twins Player Development department has brought out the best in Minnesota’s prospects by highlighting their strengths.

“Whether it's Zebby adding a new slider or Andrew adding a new slider, whatever it is, you try things [and] hope they work out, and it’s been good to see,” said Lovin. “Being a part of that has been fun. You’re always happy for those guys when they get to the next level and see some success.”

Matthews and Morris have been among the players who have benefitted most from Minnesota’s focus on developing pitchers in the system. Morris acknowledges that it takes the effort the player wants to put in to get better and how those with the Twins Player Development department go about helping them, which has led to his success.

“They work with us a lot to figure out who we are, and help us learn what we need to do and then also give us a lot of tools along the way,” said Morris. “I obviously love Jonas, and all the coaches so far have been great. Everybody has been really great, and we’ve had a really good class of pitchers for sure. It’s been a lot of fun to come up with all those guys.”

Morris and Matthews's quick rises through the minors have come with few hiccups in their performances on the mound. But no matter what level they’re at, hitters will eventually catch up with them. It happened to Matthews in his second start in the majors on Monday night against the San Diego Padres and Morris against the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Triple-A affiliate on Sunday.

Morris allowed seven base runners in three innings of work, which included four walks. Before this last week, Morris had never made two starts in one week, but his first start in Triple-A came during the first game of a six-game series. Saints manager Toby Gardenhire felt it was time to see how Morris would fare making two starts in one week.

“We didn’t know what to expect,” said Gardenhire. “He’s young, he hasn’t done it yet, so him going out there, he didn’t have his normal stuff and his whole command. So we’re hoping next time he comes out on the mound, we’ll see the guy we saw in the first start.”

“I think I got to a lot of two-strike counts really quickly, and then I proceeded to throw non-competitive pitches after that,” said Morris, reflecting on his most recent start. “So if I can throw more competitive pitches, I mean, my first two strikeouts Sunday were inside pitches, so I don’t know why I started going away from that. But if just start making better pitches in zone and force them to swing as opposed to getting them to chase, I think I can be a lot more successful.”

Morris can pitch in colder temperatures if Minnesota calls him up in September. He spent a few years growing up in Alaska with his family. He returned to Oregon to play ball in most years, but one year, he and his family made the exception to play in Anchorage.

Morris is the oldest of four brothers. All three play baseball and the two youngest are 13-year-old twins. That will allow the Twins to scout out their first-ever twins in the years to come. But being the oldest of four brothers also brings out a competitive nature in Morris and the maturity to set the example, even if he’s currently the youngest player in the Saints clubhouse.

According to Lovin, Morris’s competitive nature set him apart from his counterparts in High-A last season and has brought him to where he is now.

“You can tell he had and has a bit of a chip on his shoulder,” said Lovin. “But like I said before, he’s a fiery competitor. Anytime [Morris is] on the mound, you feel good about it because you know he’s going to give it his best. He thinks whoever’s in the box, whether it’s Aaron Judge or someone in High-A, he knows he can get them out, and he truly believes that. As he keeps moving up levels and is someday pitching in the big leagues, you’ll see it.”