Keeler Morfe 2024

[baltfan]

2 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

I just don't get why folks can't leave it at "he's an exciting young player to watch with a great arm and he looks like a real hit from the International side." 

OP said you don’t see arms with that kind of velocity at 18. Someone mentions that Caminiti hit 98.  He says he doesn’t sit 98, and now he is the bad guy for not leaving it?

[baltfan]

1 hour ago, OriolesMagic83 said:

He could be 6' 8", have the perfect frame, sit 102, and be a lefty, and Elias wouldn't pick him in the 1st round.   I think Elias was scarred for life by the 2 Houston #1 SP picks that went bad 

I would bet anything he would have taken Skenes. 

[Frobby]

24 more games for the Shorebirds, so Morfe presumably could make 4 more starts.   They never pushed him past 4 innings in the DSL and I’m guessing they won’t do it in Delmarva either.  I’m guessing somewhere between 12-16 more innings for him to whet our appetites for 2025.   

Or, maybe we just stick him in the Orioles’ pen for a few weeks.   At 98-99 mph, why not?  
 

[Rbiggs2525]

Was able to watch his start last night. He doesn’t look tiny on the mound. Seemed like the Sox announcers were kind of in awe of his stuff. His off speed needs refinement but what 18 year olds doesn’t. Not saying he’s this but Pedro Martinez was only 5’11. Yeiber Cartaya has something to him as well with a heavy fastball.

[Fiver6565]

The international side is going to be the pitching pipeline IMO. I wish they were a year or two closer to starting to filter up to the majors, but I have a feeling patience will be rewarded and we’re going to have multiple impact guys pushing their way up into the rotation and bullpen. Exciting stuff. 

[OriolesMagic83]

3 hours ago, baltfan said:

I would bet anything he would have taken Skenes. 

1st I doubt it.  Top 5, maybe.

[Warehouse]

14 hours ago, CaptainRedbeard said:

Such an interesting prospect. Can’t be too many comps in baseball history for a 5’8” guy in the upper 90s at 18. Or at any age, really.

Will his stature be an advantage in making his release point very unusual? Or work against him in limiting his extension and effective velocity? Durability? Ability to be a SP or limited to RP?

So many questions. He’s going to get a lot of attention if he finishes the year putting up more numbers like that at A ball straight out of the DSL at 18. 

One of the big questions is the accuracy of the listed height. Has it changed since he signed at 16 1/2 years old?  Tony’s January 2023 write-up listed Morfe at 5’11.  Felix Bautista was originally listed at 6’5 and 190 lbs until finally updated.  Also, a lot of shorter veteran pitchers inflate their higher - e.g., round up to 6’0 from 5’11- which may make it seem like there are fewer shorter pitchers than reality.

Below is what I found in terms of pitchers 5’10 or shorter.  I couldn’t find a good way to sort or search so this list likely isn’t comprehensive.

Pitcher	Height	Type	L/R	Avg FF velo
Daniel Herrera	5'6	RP	L	82.5
Clayton Andrews	5'6	RP	L	94.8
Marcus Stroman	5'7	SP	R	93.4
Tim Collins	5'7	RP	L	93.3
Yuki Matsui	5'8	RP	L	92.2
Deivi Garcia	5'9	SP/RP	L	93.3
Matt Bush	5'9	RP	R	97.2
Jason Frasor	5'9	RP	R	93.6
Tom Gordon	5'9	SP/RP	R	~93
Brian Barnes	5'9	SP	L	~82
Yoshinobu Yamamoto	5'10	SP	R	95.5
Shota Imanaga	5'10	SP	L	91.8
Kirby Yates	5'10	RP	R	93.5
Kelvin Herrera	5'10	RP	R	98.3
Greg Holland	5'10	RP	R	94.9
Kris Medlen	5'10	SP	R	90.5
Sonny Gray	5'10	SP	R	93.2
Austin Pruitt	5'10	SP/RP	R	91.7
John Franco	5'10	RP	L	~90
Billy Wagner	5'10	RP	L	~96
Danny Coulombe	5'10	RP	L	90.6
Eli Morgan	5'10	SP/RP	R	91.6
Whitey Ford	5'10	SP	L	~87

 

There are a lot of 5’11 pitchers, including:

Johnny Cueto

Bartolo Colon

Tim Lincecum

Fernando Rodney

Freddy Peralta

David Robertson

Pedro Martinez

Yordano Ventura

Fernando Valenzuela

[Warehouse]

On the point about young DSL players not yet reaching their final height, see quotes about Pedro Martinez below (listed at 5’11 as a major leaguer):

https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/pedro-martinez/
 

“His performance earned him a trip through the southwest United States in 1991 [age 19 year]. …

The Sporting News named him its minor league player of the year.

“Although Pedro stands just 5-9 and weighs about 160 pounds, his fastball has been clocked at 90 mph,” wrote Mike Eisenbath. “He also has a wicked changeup that seems to be a family gift.”“

[sportsfan8703]

19 hours ago, Fiver6565 said:

The international side is going to be the pitching pipeline IMO. I wish they were a year or two closer to starting to filter up to the majors, but I have a feeling patience will be rewarded and we’re going to have multiple impact guys pushing their way up into the rotation and bullpen. Exciting stuff. 

I think the goal is to try and draft #3-#5 SP types and rely on the int’l market for a TOR ceiling type. Or trades. 

[Rbiggs2525]

Someone take measuring tape to Salisbury.

[Can_of_corn]

On 8/11/2024 at 9:47 AM, baltfan said:

I would bet anything he would have taken Skenes. 

You think he passes on Dylan Crews?

A college outfielder?

Saying Skenes would have been a lock has a whiff of hindsight.

 

Edited August 12 by Can_of_corn

[Frobby]

10 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

You think he passes on Dylan Crews?

A college outfielder?

Saying Skenes would have been a lock has a whiff of hindsight.

 

Simply put: there’s no way to know.  So why waste time debating it?

Anyway, this thread is about Morfe.  Good luck to the kid.  We could use a Latin American phenom pitcher.   

[Can_of_corn]

16 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Simply put: there’s no way to know.  So why waste time debating it?

Anyway, this thread is about Morfe.  Good luck to the kid.  We could use a Latin American phenom pitcher.   

Because saying something was a lock when it goes against everything we've seen from Elias annoys me.

[casadeozo]

4 hours ago, sportsfan8703 said:

I think the goal is to try and draft #3-#5 SP types and rely on the int’l market for a TOR ceiling type. Or trades. 

Ya agreed. I think Elias wants to rely on the international market for pitching similar to what the Astros have done (blanco, Valdez, Javier, Urquidy, Garcia). 
 

the issue is it will take years for these guys to develop as we eat through the service time of our big league position players. 

[OriolesMagic83]

30 minutes ago, casadeozo said:

Ya agreed. I think Elias wants to rely on the international market for pitching similar to what the Astros have done (blanco, Valdez, Javier, Urquidy, Garcia). 
 

the issue is it will take years for these guys to develop as we eat through the service time of our big league position players. 

Need Big Daddy Rubenstein to open up that wallet this offseason so the O's don't have to trade a major chunk of the farm to have the rotation to match up with the top teams.