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1/30/15

Tom Brennan - Majoring on the Minors: Top 30 Prospects - #7 Akeel Morris


MAJORING ON THE MINORS: TOP 30 PROSPECTS – # 7 AKEEL MORRIS – Tom Brennan
I’m doing my Top 30 Prospects articles a bit differently – in 2 lists:

·       A top 10 list of lower minors guys who likely won’t show up until 2017 or later.  See list at end of this article.

·       Followed by my top 20 list of guys who are closing in on the big leagues.  Guys who could help in the near future or be trade bait.

Here is the list so far:

20.   Daniel Muno
19.   Michael Fulmer
18.   Miller Diaz
17.   Dario Alvarez
16.   Jayce Boyd
15.   Rob Whalen
14.   Hansel Robles
13.   Gabriel Ynoa
12.   Gavin Cecchini
11.   Jack Leathersich
10.   Cory Mazzoni
9.      Cesar Puello
8.      Matt Bowman

Today, selection #7:

AKEEL MORRIS: I firmly believe Akeel is the real deal, although we may at best only see him as a September call up in 2015.

Here is a guy from St. Thomas who flew to the Dominican for a try out, passed the audition, and chose to sign with the Mets.  A choice to be thankful for. 
After a really rough 2012, he was moved to the pen in 2013 at Brooklyn with remarkable results. Well, not nearly as remarkable as in 2014 in Savannah.  Were it not for one bad pitch (a 3 run homer) he'd have allowed just one earned run the whole season.  Just one.  Five months.  Unheard of.

How about 3 hits per 9 innings?  14 Ks per 9.  Who does that?

Answer: video game characters do…and so does Akeel Morris.

He throws so hard, someone may give him an original nickname like, oh, Mercury Morris. Terrific change up. Fine breaking stuff.  A drive to succeed every outing.  Failure is not an option.  

He was MILB fans' choice for baseball's Minor League Reliever of the Year, so he has those who have seen and believed.

OK, so why did he not get promoted from mid-A Savannah in 2014, Smart Guy? Before I answer that, thank you for being dumb enough to call me smart.  They left him there to convert him to a closer.  He passed the test with flying colors. 

He's "movin' on up" in 2015.  My hope is straight to AA for the 22 year old righty, mid-season to AAA.  Who knows, maybe we see him late 2015.  I hope so.  More gas in a lethal pen.  I'm OK with that. Good luck in 2015, Mr. Morris.

MY TOP 10 LOWER MINORS LIST:
# 1 - Marcos Molina

#2 – Michael Conforto

#3 – Amed Rosario

#4 – Dominic Smith

#5 - Jhoan Urena

#6 – Vicente Lupo

#7 – Wuilmer Becerra

#8 – Luis Guillorme

#9 - Casey Meisner

#10 - Milton Ramos
on

4 comments:

  1. Tom BrennanJanuary 30, 2015 at 12:49 PM

    For those who want the bottom line, he is my #10 overall prospect on El Metsos.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ernest DoveJanuary 30, 2015 at 1:01 PM

    Don't see him even sniffing citi field to pitch an inning this year. Dilson Herrera was an crazy exception to the (Mets) rule last year with that kind of advancement. Should be interesting next year.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mack AdeJanuary 30, 2015 at 1:17 PM

    As in the case of all minor league pitchng, the big test will come in the 'prospect league'... AA

    ReplyDelete
  4. Tom BrennanJanuary 30, 2015 at 3:05 PM

    I'd imagine that Morris will start at St Lucie, due to the pitching logjam in front of him - otherwise, I'd like to see him thrown right into AA and challenge him. My guess is it won't take long for him to reach AA.

    ReplyDelete