#20 RHP Akeel Morris

Ht: 6’1″ Wt: 195 Age: 11/14/1992 (23)

2015 Level: New York Mets, Double-A Binghamton Mets, Hi-A St. Lucie Mets

Statistics: 47 G, 61.1 IP, 0-2 W-L, 13 SV, 2.05 ERA, 0.929 WHIP, .137 BAA, 81/29 K/BB, 2 HR

It’s the situation that every aspiring baseball player dreams of being thrust into.

Unfortunately for Akeel Morris, he simply wasn’t ready for the spotlight.

Because of a burned-out bullpen, the Mets promoted Morris to the major leagues straight from Hi-A St. Lucie on June 15. Terry Collins vowed to only use him in case of an emergency, but neither Collins nor Morris could have predicted the circumstances under which the rookie would step onto a major league field for the first time. Morris relieved Jon Niese to begin the eighth inning of the June 17 contest in Toronto, trying to limit the damage in a manageable three-run ballgame. He would walk the first two batters, get a forceout at second base, then yield three consecutive hits, the last of which left the ballpark with three runners crossing home plate. Jack Leathersich was needed to finish the inning.

And that was it for Akeel Morris. Later that night, the Mets demoted him to Double-A Binghamton, to make room for Logan Verrett on the active roster. His final line as a major leaguer: 1 G, 0.2 IP, 3 H, 5 R, 1 HR, 3 BB.

Aside from one poor big league outing, Morris enjoyed a stellar 2015 season, his sixth in the organization. He was named a mid-season all-star with St. Lucie.

Morris was born and raised in St. Thomas, in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where he attended Charlotte Amalie High School, the foremost sports school on the island. In December of 2009, he pitched a perfect game against a rival school, striking out all 15 batters he faced. According to the Virgin Island Daily News, opposing hitters managed to make contact with a mere four pitches, all resulting in foul balls.

Fast-forward to 2013, when Morris dominated the New York-Penn League with the Brooklyn Cyclones, allowing only five earned runs over 45 innings pitched, to go along with 60 strikeouts, the most in the league by a primary reliever. He was one year removed from a season with the Kingsport Mets where he finished 0-6 with a 7.98 earned run average.

“What changed for me is to really try to attack the strike zone and be aggressive with every pitch I throw, and I really work my off-speed off of my fastball,” he told Newsday after a game with the Cyclones.

Last year, with St Lucie, Morris couldn’t be touched for periods of time. He had a 14 inning scoreless streak from May 2 to June 5, and had strikeouts in his first 13 appearances of the season. After the promotion by demotion to Binghamton, he continued his strong play, allowing only one run from July 23 through the end of the minor league season. The B-Mets made a quick exit in the Eastern League playoffs, losing to Reading in a first round sweep, but Morris was one of the team’s most dominant and electric arms out of the bullpen throughout, finishing with the fifth lowest Binghamton earned run average.

Mechanically, Morris pitches out of the stretch with a violent motion. He sets up on the first base side of the rubber, swings his leg up high, and rears back before unleashing from over the top. He sports a fastball that sits in the mid-90s and a changeup that was dubbed “excellent” by Matt Eddy of Baseball America. I’ve read that his breaking ball still needs work, but at 23 years of age, he’s nowhere close t0 being done in terms of development. He’ll be exciting to watch going forward, as an impact flamethrower in the late innings.

According to the traditional minor league promotion structure, he would be headed to Las Vegas to begin 2016, but a glut of veteran pitchers that are virtually guaranteed to be left off the major league roster come April could change Morris’ initial assignment. Buddy Carlyle, Stolmy Pimentel, Jim Henderson, and Duane Below among others are certain to be placed in Triple-A, along with various older prospects, like Chasen Bradford, Paul Sewald, and Jeff Walters. The advantage Morris does own, is that he is currently on the major league 40-man roster, so the early looks for mid season bullpen help could very possibly go his way.

35-31,  40-36,  45-41, 50-46, 60-51, 70-61, 80-71