The Minnesota Twins’ starting rotation took another blow on Friday morning when Kendry Rojas was placed on the 15-day injured list with left elbow inflammation. The move has Rojas joining fellow starters Pablo Lopez and Mick Abel on the IL and leaves the pitching staff in flux as they enter a three-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday night.
Through all the injuries, there has been some opportunity and the biggest one could now belong to Andrew Morris. Called up to play a key role in the bullpen, Rojas’s injury could be the opening that allows the Twins to see what they have in the young starter and have him audition for a bigger role as the calendar turns to June.
Twins could audition Andrew Morris as a major league starter after Kendry Rojas’s injury
While it’s good to bring in Morris to eat innings and occasionally pitch in high-leverage situations, the Twins have also considered his callup as an onboarding process in the Major Leagues.
Aaron Gleeman of AaronGleeman.com reported for The Athletic in April that the Twins are taking a page out of the Milwaukee Brewers playbook where Brandon Woodruff, Corbin Burnes and Freddy Peralta all pitched out of the bullpen before taking major league roles and manager Derek Shelton also revealed the organization still sees Morris as a starter despite his current role.
“I think he’s still a starter,” Shelton told Gleeman. “We view him as a starter. But opportunities come into play. And our bullpen has been taxed.”
Taking Morris out of the bullpen would create a hole that needs to be filled. But it can also be argued there’s an even bigger opportunity after Rojas’s injury.
Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober are locks at the top of the rotation and Zebby Matthews has pitched well since his call-up on May 14. But Dan Hayes of The Athletic reported on Friday that the Twins are being careful with Taj Bradley as he returns from a pectoral injury and are also monitoring innings for Connor Prielipp, whose current innings total of 48.1 between the majors and Triple-A St. Paul is over halfway to his previous career high of 82.2 innings thrown last season.
That could open the door for Morris to enter the rotation. A fourth-round pick in the 2022 draft, Morris posted a 22-13 record with a 3.54 ERA, 6.0 percent walk rate and 23.1 percent strikeout rate over 320.1 innings in the minor leagues. After making his way to Triple-A last season, he allowed an earned run, five hits and two walks with five strikeouts in 7.1 innings before earning his call-up on April 11.
Morris has been solid out of the pen, posting a 1-2 record with a 4.18 ERA, 8.5 percent walk rate and an 18.9 percent strikeout rate in 23.2 innings. Baseball Savant also points out he has limited hard contact with an average exit velocity of 86.2 miles per hour and a 2.6 percent barrel rate that’s in the 94th percentile among qualifying pitchers.
While those are strong numbers, Morris should eventually get a crack at starting by the time this season is over. But with Rojas joining a growing list of injured starters, there may be no time like the present.
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