NEWSLETTER
For the 5th time in his last 8 games, Christopher Morel homered last night.
It was a particularly special one for the 24-year-old third baseman, as it was Morel’s 50th career home run:
Although the dinger did not fully bring the Cubs back in the game, it did feel like a momentary lift. He’s been doing a lot of that lately. This homer streak has been particularly absurd, as Morel is hitting .259/.412/.815/232 wRC+ (20.6% BB, 17.6% K!), and, thanks in part to the home runs, all with a hilarious .125 BABIP. Dude has probably been getting unlucky on the ones that don’t leave the park!
So, yeah, Christopher Morel is freaking scorching once again.
The timeline here is quite interesting, by the way, since there was a swing a ways back in San Diego after which Morel was shaking his hand/wrist in some visible discomfort. I won’t say there was an “injury” there – that’s not my place, and he didn’t go on the IL – but I will talk about the performance stretches, because they are STARK:
March 28 – April 9: .326/.370/.605/175 wRC+, 6.5% BB, 10.9% K
April 10 – April 20: .057/.171/.057/-31 wRC+, 12.2% BB, 26.8% K
April 21 – present: .236/.373/.545/161 wRC+, 17.9% BB, 22.4% K
Maybe that was just normal in-season variance, because lots of guys have stretches where you could pick and choose like this. But I’ll admit that I sure like the NARRATIVE IDEA of Morel having started legit hot, dinged his hand/wrist a little and struggled for 10 days while it healed, and then got right back to being legit hot. It’s a story that would let you believe Morel has broken out as an absolute star. I like that story.
We probably won’t know for sure, and we’ll see if the latest hot stretch continues. I don’t know that he’s going to continue to be a 161 wRC+ guy through the end of the season, but I think significant steps forward from last year – when he was already pretty darn good! – could really be possible.
Also, I think it’s worth noting how little we’ve been talking about Christopher Morel’s defense lately. That’s because, after the very first week of the season, when he was looking particularly brutal over at third, he’s been completely fine. He’s made all the routine plays, and he’s sprinkled in some very nice ones. There just hasn’t been much to say about Morel’s time at third base lately, which is itself something to say.
