Atlanta Braves Scouting Report on RHP Akeel Morris
The Atlanta Braves acquired Akeel Morris in their annual Kelly Johnson to the Mets trade. Could he impact the big league bullpen in 2017?
Player Profile
The Atlanta Braves acquired Morris in a June trade from the New York Mets.
Morris was initially drafted by the Mets in the 10th round of the 2010 draft out of high school in the Virgin Islands. Interestingly, one of the four players that attended the same school that have made the major leagues was actually drafted that same year as Jabari Blash was selected out of Miami Dade Community College in the 8th round.
The Mets sent Morris to their Gulf Coast League affiliate to begin his professional career. He made 8 appearances, throwing 24 2/3 innings with a 2.19 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 15.89% walk rate, and 26.17% strikeout rate.
He spent his next season with Kingsport in the advanced rookie Appalachian League. He made 11 starts, throwing 51 1/3 innings, with a 3.86 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 16.81% walk rate, and 26.99% strikeout rate.
The Mets had Morris repeat the level in 2012, beginning the move of Morris to the bullpen as Morris made 11 appearances, 6 of them starts. He tallied 38 1/3 innings with a 7.98 ERA, 1.57 WHIP, 12.29% walk rate, and 27.93% strikeout rate.
Morris moved into a swing man role for the Brooklyn team in the New York-Penn League in 2013. He made 14 appearances, 3 of them starts, throwing 45 innings, with a 1.00 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 12.57% walk rate, and 32.79% strikeout rate.
He continued his dominance out of the bullpen with a full season in the South Atlantic League with New York’s low-A affiliate in Savannah in 2014. Morris made 41 appearances, saving 16 games, throwing 57 innings with a 0.63 ERA, 0.72 WHIP, 10.43% walk rate, and 42.18% strikeout rate.
Morris continued his progress one step at a time up the Mets system in 2015, opening with high-A St. Lucie in the Florida State League, and then earning a promotion to AA Binghamton in the Eastern League. He made a pit stop in between for a fill-in stop in the major leagues to make his major league debut to fill in for an injured and exhausted Mets bullpen.
On the 2015 season, Morris made 47 appearances in the minor leagues, saving 13 games, and throwing 61 1/3 innings. He posted a 2.05 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, 12.24% walk rate, and 34.18% strikeout rate.
His one major league appearance was forgettable, throwing 2/3 of an inning, allowing 5 runs on 3 hits and 3 walks.
Morris returned to AA Binghamton as the closer to open 2016, saving 6 games over 22 appearances and 25 1/3 innings before he was traded. The Braves assigned him to AA Mississippi in the Southern League, where he made 25 more appearances before heading to the Arizona Fall League.
He totaled 47 appearances in the regular season and 61 innings, with a 3.25 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 14.18% walk rate, and 32.95% strikeout rate. He made four postseason appearances, throwing 4 1/3 innings where he was hit hard, giving up 7 runs on 6 hits and 4 walks, striking out 6. He then appeared in 9 games with the AFL, throwing 9 1/3 innings with a 2.89 ERA, 1.82 WHIP, and a 7/12 BB/K ratio.
Next: Morris' scouting report