Jose Morel

Position: RHRP
Level: High A
Affiliate: San Jose Giants
League:
Age: 22 yrs, 10m
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 190
B/T: Right / Right
Acquired: Signed as international free agent, May 31, 2012 (SFG)

Prospect Spotlight

Morel was signed by the Giants in 2012 out of the Dominican Republic, and has spent his previous four years developing at Rookie ball before taking a big step up to High A San Jose this year. The years developing have produced a mature body and solid build, with broad shoulders and some good strength in the lower half.

Morel works with a simple delivery that has a side step/leg kick while keeping his hands close to his chest. The arm comes out in a whip 3/4’s release point that has some looseness , and not a lot of effort. He works across his body, and the arm angle and release point contribute to his strengths and his weaknesses. He works mainly two pitches, a Fastball that sits 87-to-89 mph (T92) and a Slider sitting 76-to-79 (T80) with both pitches being fringy offerings, and with command being poor. The fastball has some arm-side sink and can get some tail in its two-seam action. When Morel’s mechanics are in sync the pitch is rarely straight, and he can get it down in the zone to keep it off the barrel and getting weak contact. The problem is he has trouble controlling the pitch. When he throws to the arm side he opens up his front shoulder making the pitch take off without much of an idea for where it’s going. This inconsistency in driving down the hill and finishing will lead to extended bouts of control issues.

The slider has an exaggerated break that when on will get hitters out front and chasing the pitch off their front foot. When Morel’s mechanics are off, he will get under the pitch making it sweepy and loose in it’s break. The pitch works its best when he does find command of his good sinking 2-seam fastball, as it breaks away from RHH’s and under the swing of LHH’s.

Morel moved into the starting rotation in late June, but he profiles better out of the bullpen than he does as a starter. Since moving into the starting role, Morel has walked as many batters in 18 innings as he did in the 35 innings he worked prior from the bullpen (nine) while also hitting five guys and allowing five home runs. Out of the bullpen, his stuff should improve if he could be a max-effort guy, bumping his fastball velocity while allowing the slider to keep its same velocity and shape. Overall, Morel needs to significantly improve his control for him to be successful. Too often he’s working from behind in the count, and at times seems lackadaisical on the mound and with his mechanics. He’s still young, and has a chance to continue to develop, but to me he’s a Quad-A type player at best.