Mike Morin

[Chuck]

In 5.1 innings since he's been sent down, Morin has posted a 0.00 ERA, 1 BB, 3 H, 8 K's.

Yeah I know, sample size, but I can't tell you how much I'd rather have him in our bullpen than Fernando Salas. 

[Skankhunt42]

Just now, Chuckster70 said:

In 5.1 innings since he's been sent down, Morin has posted a 0.00 ERA, 1 BB, 3 H, 8 K's.

Yeah I know, sample size, but I can't tell you how much I'd rather have him in our bullpen than Fernando Salas. 

He might be a regular ol' Brandon Wood. Great minor league stats, but can't hack in in the Majors. 

[Chuck]

Just now, TaTaToohie said:

He might be a regular ol' Brandon Wood. Great minor league stats, but can't hack in in the Majors. 

He might... But we already know what we're getting with Tossed Salas. 

[Skankhunt42]

Just now, Chuckster70 said:

He might... But we already know what we're getting with Tossed Salas. 

I literally laughed at Tossed Salas

[Inside Pitch]

25 minutes ago, hangin n wangin said:

Morin was good his rookie year and looked like he was going to be a dependable bullpen piece going forward. He hasn't pitched the same since, but I still think he will be a solid bullpen guy for us in the future. I'm not giving up on him yet. And I think we would all rather see Morin pitch for us than that fucking idiot Salas.

Relievers are famously volatile and because of their IP totals the sample sizes can make a guy look worse than he really did, particularly if he's a tad unlucky.   This was true of Morin in 2015.

The 2014 version of Morin put up a K/9 rate of 9.0, in 15 he sat at 10.44 -- a slight improvement.  The 2014 version of Morin put up a BB/9 of 2.90, in 2015 he lowered it to 2.29 -- again, a slight improvement.  Yes his HR rate rose from 0.46 to 0.76 but as a whole he really wasn't that different and yet his ERA skyrocketed from 2.90 to 6.57...  Why?  because of bad luck -- his BABIP went from .287 to .344...  Basically, balls found holes.  His FIP meanwhile improved from 3.08 to 2.85...

He's officially been worse this year -- but as a whole he's been better than his ERA would lead us to believe, but being asked to pitch in higher leverage situation pitcher tends to magnify those oopsies...  I really wish Morin would try to add a sinker of some kind - with his changeup being as good as it is and his FB's tendency to flatten out, anything with a little sink might really make a huge difference for him.

[AngelArcher]

He hasn't been the same since cutting his foot on the beach a couple years ago. I wonder if it's been a chain reaction of subconscious compensational adjustments that have led to inconsistency and another injury. 

[Make Angels Great Again]

19 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

Relievers are famously volatile and because of their IP totals the sample sizes can make a guy look worse than he really did, particularly if he's a tad unlucky.   This was true of Morin in 2015.

The 2014 version of Morin put up a K/9 rate of 9.0, in 15 he sat at 10.44 -- a slight improvement.  The 2014 version of Morin put up a BB/9 of 2.90, in 2015 he lowered it to 2.29 -- again, a slight improvement.  Yes his HR rate rose from 0.46 to 0.76 but as a whole he really wasn't that different and yet his ERA skyrocketed from 2.90 to 6.57...  Why?  because of bad luck -- his BABIP went from .287 to .344...  Basically, balls found holes.  His FIP meanwhile improved from 3.08 to 2.85...

He's officially been worse this year -- but as a whole he's been better than his ERA would lead us to believe, but being asked to pitch in higher leverage situation pitcher tends to magnify those oopsies...  I really wish Morin would try to add a sinker of some kind - with his changeup being as good as it is, and his FB's tendency to flatten out, anything with a little sink might really make a huge difference for him.

 

No way an ERA jump of nearly 4 runs was just due to balls falling in and finding holes. There has to be something else at play there, batters sitting on the changeup or something.

[OregonLAA]

I can remember a few games watching bloop hits and seeing eye singles helping skyrocket his era. I like Morin. Ship our Smith and Street and let's see what this bullpen can do. Guerra has been solid and Ramirez has been really good

[Inside Pitch]

2 hours ago, Make Angels Great Again said:

No way an ERA jump of nearly 4 runs was just due to balls falling in and finding holes. There has to be something else at play there, batters sitting on the changeup or something.

Pitch values are a thing, they measure how good or bad a pitcher's offerings are based on the success they have with individual pitches in relation to the league...   Morin's change up had a weighted pitch value of 6.4 in 2014 -- in 2015 it was 6..   So, no, people weren't teeing off on his change -- however hitters had greater success off of his FB, this despite it having ticked up a little bit in velocity.  

As previously stated, his FB does in fact tend to flatten out, and I have little doubt that can make it easier for hitters to hit him, but the BABIP issues are really just bad luck.   When a guy is walking fewer people, striking out more people... he's not really pitching any worse -- those are the things he actually has control over...  You're fixating on ERA but in this case the ERA isn't really telling you anything about how well or poorly the guy was pitching, it's simply measuring the number of runs that scored.  

http://www.fangraphs.com/library/pitching/babip/

[Angel Oracle]

Any way he can add a splitter?

[totdprods]

I'd really like to see Jose Valdez get some innings this year too. Only 25, plucked from the Tigers earlier this year.

18 IP, 12 H, 3R, 2ER, 1 HR, 6BB, 21K for the Bees. Already on the 40-man too. Has a career ERA in mid 3's in the minors.

"Entering the season, Baseball America rated Valdez as Detroit’s No. 23 prospect, praising his “high-octane stuff” and calling both his fastball and slider plus pitches. However, BA also noted that Valdez’s struggles with control often leave him pitching behind in the count."

[tomsred]

3 hours ago, Angel Oracle said:

Any way he can add a splitter?

I'd like to see him change his pre-delivery routine as well.  The way he drops his left foot back, then pulls it up it looks like he is never in balance, or he's had one too many shots.  It's a little thing, but it bugs me.  It would be nice to see him with a splitter, but at times I'd take any kind of movement on his fastball as well.  Cut the damn thing Morin, cut it.

[arch stanton]

The change up is good enough that I don't think he needs a splitter. He needs to find a way to improve movement and location on the fastball without sacrificing too much velo. 

[Second Base]

Morin will be a good major league reliever, you can quote me on that one, I've been saying it for a few years now.  He needs to regain some of that confidence, or more, aggressiveness he had when he came up.  He was pitching with his hair on fire and showed some real intensity on the mound.

He also needs to keep the ball down and spot his pitches.  The fastball-change combo is good enough to get hitters out.  Guys like Ryan Madson and Fernando Rodney have used almost identical arsenals as Morin for years and have found success.

Salas on the other hand, I don't know any pitcher that uses what he has and enjoys success.  89 mph fastball without movement, hanging sliders that float rather than break....

[Billy_Ball]

10 hours ago, TaTaToohie said:

He might be a regular ol' Brandon Wood. Great minor league stats, but can't hack in in the Majors. 

I wouldn't compare Morin to Wood.  Unlike Wood, Morin did quite well in his rookie season in the Majors (59 IP, 54Ks, 2.90 ERA in 2014.) 

[Inside Pitch]

15 hours ago, Angel Oracle said:

Any way he can add a splitter?

Anything that would help him induce more GBs would likely be beneficial to him.