Mike Morin

[Angel Oracle]

Joakim Soria had great success with the changeup before the TJ surgery was needed.

[Inside Pitch]

IP, are you referring to Hoffmans velocity in the last couple of seasons (85 mph)?  I'm pretty sure, based on years of watching him, that he threw harder than that through his prime years.  Maybe my memory is failing me though.

 

 

Nah, he never had a fastball.   At his peak it was lucky to hit 88MPH.   He was all about his change and a curve he could throw between 72 and 74 MPH..  Those two pitches being so close in velocity ate hitters up and made his FB jump out more.    But, he was famous for having four pitches including a not fast fastball.

[Inside Pitch]

And I completely agree with you on the changeup being vastly underrated, and underutilized.  It puts quite a bit less stress on the elbow/shoulder than constantly throwing a slider/curve.  I've always maintained that I would teach my son (who is 5 now) to throw a fastball and change-up, and to focus on command of those two.

 

Yep, the change is a devastating pitch.  As great as Pedro's FB was, it was his change that made him so special. Chris Sale, and Stephen Strasberg are two guys who get a lot of press for their heaters but it's their change-ups that are their best pitches.  Nearly 55% of the swings at Strasberg's change came up empty in 2012, which made that the best pitch in MLB and second only to Sale's change for pure value..   Kelvin Herrera gets misses on better than 62% of his changes...  To put that into perspective, Yu Darvish's fastball had the best whiff rate in MLB..   27.76%

 

You're smart to have your son focus on those two pitches..

[Second Base]

I think my biggest question with Morin now would be, "How were the Angels able to pick up on Morin when other teams didn't?"  He wasn't coming from some small town or small school, he was a Tar Heel.  He wasn't some middle reliever or spot starter, he was their closer.  A high profile pitcher in a high profile situation and he fell all the way to the Angels in the 13th round.  When I spoke to a former Angels scout whose now in the front office side of things he said they were pleased to pick players like Morin up when they did.  13th round really isn't a huge risk and to role the dice on someone like Morin just in case their success transfers and they climb the ladder quickly was a worthwhile investment for the Angels.  

 

Something that surprised me is that he mentioned he wish he could've landed Tillman and Maronde that late because he ultimately saw similar career paths in all of them.  Of course as we know now, Tillman's struggled staying healthy and his command has also suffered as a result, but had he stayed healthy I think Tillman would've been on the doorstep as well. 

 

I'd love to see the Angels promote Morin in September, just allow him to get his feet wet, get some jitters out of the way and be ready to compete for a spot in Spring Training.  

[HaloMilliVanilli]

It was killing me so I did a little research.  Hoffman did have a fastball, somewhere in the mid-90's when he first entered the bigs for Florida and after being traded to San Diego.  I remember having him and a young Robb Nen (always thought that Florida could've had a lights-out bully if they had kept him) as closers in my fantasy baseball league WAY BACK THEN and nobody really knew them initially.  During the mid-90's, Hoffman sustained a shoulder injury playing catch with a nerf football and diving for a ball in a volleyball game.  He eventually had surgery.  Fastball was never the same and, thus, he developed the changeup that defined his career.

 

Also, didn't know that he came up as a shortstop in the Cincinnati organization and was asked to change positions (to relief pitcher) due to his power arm, and the fact he was blocked by Barry Larkin.  And because he couldn't hit.

[Inside Pitch]

It was killing me so I did a little research.  Hoffman did have a fastball, somewhere in the mid-90's when he first entered the bigs for Florida and after being traded to San Diego.  I remember having him and a young Robb Nen (always thought that Florida could've had a lights-out bully if they had kept him) as closers in my fantasy baseball league WAY BACK THEN and nobody really knew them initially.  During the mid-90's, Hoffman sustained a shoulder injury playing catch with a nerf football and diving for a ball in a volleyball game.  He eventually had surgery.  Fastball was never the same and, thus, he developed the changeup that defined his career.

 

Also, didn't know that he came up as a shortstop in the Cincinnati organization and was asked to change positions (to relief pitcher) due to his power arm, and the fact he was blocked by Barry Larkin.  And because he couldn't hit.

'

 

Yup. he last had that fastball in 1994, then blew out his shoulder during the strike in 94,   Thus, the Trevor Hoffman of legend never had that fastball, he topped out at 88-89 with a tailwind.

 

Talk about a guy that took lemons and made lemonade.

[mulwin444]

Morin in AA this season - 2.25 ERA 28 IP 25 H 4 BB 30 K 1.00 WHIP .243 BAA

 

Add in his stats from High A ball and he's only walked 9 batters in 67 IP total

 

They need to see what this guy can do against MLB batters

[FireThemAll]

This is the real gem of the Angels upper minor league system right now. Him and Lindsey are the bright spots. This guy looks like a potential really good setup man - something we definitely need.

[SoWhat]

That 8.11 K/BB is jaw dropping, it's not like it's a small sample size either.