When David Morgan was profiled in last year’s rankings of the San Diego Padres’ top prospects, it was pointed out that the 26-year-old right-hander had joined the organization as a non-drafted free agent in 2022. Moreover, he’d barely taken the mound. A two-way player at Hope International University — an NAIA school in Fullerton, California — Morgan had thrown just nine-and-a-third innings. At the time he signed, he was playing for the Portland Pickles in the summer collegiate West Coast League (for which Rob Neyer is the commissioner).
Morgan’s backstory sets him apart him from his MLB brethren, but what about from a pitch-specific standpoint? Are there any differentiating characteristics?
“My ability to pick stuff up and kind of run with it is probably the most unique thing about me,” said Morgan, who made his big-league debut last May and has since logged a 3.41 ERA and a 4.15 FIP over 52 appearances comprising 60-and-two-thirds frames. “Last year, when I had to throw a sinker, it wasn’t really a learning process. It was in-between innings. I came into the dugout, grabbed a new grip, and threw it the next inning.”
The outing, his sixth in the majors, came on June 10 with the Padres holding a commanding late-inning lead against the Los Angeles Dodgers. When Morgan returned to the dugout after working the eighth, pitching coach Ruben Niebla pulled him aside and asked if he’d ever thrown a sinker. The answer was yes and no. Morgan had toyed around with one, but that was about it.
With the game not in doubt — San Diego led 11-1 — Niebla “gave [him] a grip and said to go out and throw it next inning.” Morgan did, the pitch “danced around a little bit,” and the rest is history. By season’s end, he’d thrown his sinker at a 21.5% clip, and this year the usage is up to 34.7%.
“It’s pretty straight up,” Morgan said of the grip. “I’m down the middle of those two seams, holding that one seam on the middle finger and just kind of releasing it off of that. It holds its axis pretty well. The ones I had tinkered with the past were more of a seam-shift, kind of trying to cut it. That was the original grip I tried — a supination grip — but I ended up realizing that I was basically throwing a four-seamer with a different grip.
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“I’d thrown one in a couple of bullpens during the Fall League in 2024,” the righty elaborated on the earlier experimentation. “I got a pitch grip from Leo Rosales, who is a pitching coach in our organization. I threw a few of them in games, but I don’t think any were in the zone, so I decided the pitch wasn’t going to work for me. Now it’s a pitch that does work for me.”
As is true for most anyone who takes the mound, not everything works as intended every time. After a strong start to the season — seven appearances with just one run (unearned) allowed over 10-and-a-third innings — Morgan hit a rough patch, getting banged around in four straight outings. In an effort get him back on track, the Padres sent the Mission Viejo native to Triple-A El Paso earlier this week.
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RANDOM HITTER-PITCHER MATCHUPS
Larry Bowa went 6 for 11 against Mike Corkins.
Pee Wee Reese went 6 for 8 against Corky Valentine.
Corky Miller went 2 for 2 against Bartolo Colon.
Bobby Wine went 11 for 23 against Hal Woodeshick.
Ralph Winegarner went 2 for 5 against Red Ruffing.
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Matt Vierling had a solid spring training. The Detroit Tigers outfielder/third baseman logged a team-best 14 hits, eight of them for extra bases, while putting up a 125 wRC+. He hasn’t fared nearly as well in the regular season. With the calendar now turned to May, Vierling is slashing a comparably lackluster .212/.270/.348 with one home run and a 68 wRC+.
It is often said that spring training numbers don’t matter, and with that in mind, I asked Vierling for his opinion. Is what happened in the Grapefruit or Cactus League completely cast aside come Opening Day, or are players mindfully aware of what they experienced in the month of March?
“Spring training matters, for sure,” said Vierling, whom I’d hoped to talk to on my mid-March Florida trip, but didn’t get an opportunity to do so until the Tigers visited Fenway Park a few weeks ago. “I think if you have a bad spring in terms of numbers, or your swing doesn’t feel right… I’ve seen guys who have struggled in spring, and then something clicks at the very end. That’s a perfect [scenario], because they’re going into the season feeling good. And then you have guys who hit really well in the spring, but kind of lose that feeling toward the end. They walk into the season kind of lost. So, I do think spring training matters, not statistically, but how you’re feeling.”
How did the veteran of six MLB seasons feel this time around?
“I had one of those springs where I felt really good, but then slowed down a little bit,” he told me. “And then the season brings a whole new set of challenges. You’re out there really trying to win games. It matters, so there is a mindset change.”
A mindset change that includes pressure to perform…
“It can if you let it,” Vierling replied. “You can’t let it, but subconsciously it does. It has an effect, for sure.”
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A pair of 2026 spring training-regular season stat comps to chew on
Cincinnati’s Matt McLain went 27-for-53 with a 1.540 OPS in the spring. He is 24-for-120 with a .614 OPS in the regular season.
Milwaukee’s Garrett Mitchell went 3-for-37 with a .407 OPS in the spring. He is 21-for-88 with a .749 OPS in the regular season.
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Spring training also came up when I talked to Nathan Lukes prior to the start of the regular season.
“As athletes, we always want to get better,” said the Toronto Blue Jays outfielder, who led Sunday Notes one week ago. “It’s funny hearing people complain when guys aren’t hitting in spring training, yada yada. We spend the offseason trying to get better. We’re constantly trying to find different things to switch, or change, to improve — and we don’t know if those things are going to work until spring training. When spring training rolls around, sometimes guys struggle, because the things they worked on aren’t clicking. Then it’s about trying to find something else to click.”
For Lukes, this past offseason’s experiment proved ineffective.
“I tried lowering my hands, in my stance,” he explained. “I was trying to find that competitive edge, and I thought that was going to make me quicker to the ball. Instead, it made it so that I couldn’t really hit the ball. [The adjustment] was also supposed to make me a little more relaxed, but that wasn’t the case when I stepped in the box. It made me more tense when I had a pitcher on the mound. There is a lot of trial and error when you’re in this profession.”
Lukes went 12-for-36 on the spring. He began the regular season 13-for-52 before landing on the IL with a hamstring strain on April 25.
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A quiz:
The last time a player had 20 or more triples in a single season was 2007, when that number was reached in both the American and National Leagues. Which two batters recorded at least 20 three-baggers that year? (A hint: they also had 20 or more home runs.)
The answer can be found below.
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NEWS NOTES
Corky Withrow, an outfielder who went hitless in nine at-bats while appearing in six games for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1963, died on April 22 at age 88. A native of High Coal, West Virginia, Withrow hit for power down on the farm, slugging 211 home runs, 34 of them with the Texas League’s Austin Senators in 1962. He was drafted by the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers in 1959, but didn’t play basketball professionally.
SABR’s Asian Baseball Committee will be hosting a virtual event with Tuffy Rhodes on Thursday May 7 at 8:30. Known stateside for homering three times for the Chicago Cubs on Opening Day 1994, Rhodes went on to become one of the most prolific home run hitters in Japanese baseball history. You can register for the event here.
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The answer to the quiz is Curtis Granderson, who legged out 23 triples with the Detroit Tigers, and Jimmy Rollins, who had 20 with the Philadelphia Phillies.
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Left on the cutting-room floor from my recent conversation with Travis Bazzana was his response to my asking if he was a big fan of the ABL growing up.
“Oh, yeah,” replied the Australian-born Cleveland Guardians infielder, who made his MLB debut on Tuesday. “My dad and I would go to maybe two games a week, in Sydney. Then, from age 15 through 17, I was on the [Sydney Blue Sox] development roster, so I got to train with the team. I had limited at-bats, probably had 40 in three years, but being around a professional clubhouse before I got to college was big development for me.”
The quality of play in his homeland’s top league?
“The ABL is kind of like a wildcard, because you get different things on different nights” said Bazzana, echoing what Team Australia and former MLB catcher Dave Nilsson told me this past winter. “One night you might be seeing a 16-year-old kid from Australia throwing 88 [mph], and another night you might be seeing a High-A prospect with the Rays throwing 96, but still learning how to command it. You could also be facing someone who is 35 and played professional baseball for 10 years. There is such a wide array of players.
“[Comparatively], Japan and Korea have very steady depth,” added Bazzana. “There are a lot of good baseball players who do fundamentals really well. They’re not going to beat themselves. In Australia, it’s like you’re picking from a jar. You don’t know what you’re going to get on any given night.”
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FOREIGN AFFAIRS
NPB umpire Takuto Kawakami, who was struck on the side of the head by a bat during an April 16 game, has reportedly been moved out of an ICU unit, although he has yet to regain consciousness. The injury occurred when a Tokyo Yakult Swallows player had the bat slip out of his hands while swinging and missing.
Teruaki Sato is slashing .405/.465/.784 with eight home runs and a 257 wRC+ over 127 plate appearances for the Hanshin Tigers. The 27-year-old, left-handed-hitting third baseman/outfielder homered 40 times with a 182 wRC+ a year ago. He is reportedly in line to be posted at the conclusion of the NPB season.
Seong-han Park is slashing .436/.533/.627 with three home runs and a 218 wRC+ over 137 plate appearances with the KBO’s SSG Landers. The 26-year-old, left-handed-hitting shortstop had seven home runs and a 114 wRC+ a year ago.
Marcelo Martinez has thrown 17-and-a-third scoreless innings over three starts for the Chinese Professional Baseball League’s Wei Chuan Dragons. A native of Reynosa, Mexico, the 29-year-old southpaw pitched in the Kansas City Royals system from 2018-2023, and for the CPBL’s Rakuten Monkeys in 2024-2025.
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Bob Watson was a productive hitter before going on to become the general manager of both the Houston Astros and New York Yankees, and later a vice president of Major League Baseball. A first baseman/outfielder who played from 1966-1984, mostly with Houston, Watson twice drove in over 100 runs, and finished his career with 184 home runs and a pair of All-Star berths.
In a recent conversation with one of his former Astros teammates, I opined that a lot of fans, particularly in the current generation, probably aren’t all that familiar with Watson.
“That’s because he played in Houston,’ said Joe Sambito, a southpaw whose memories of J.R. Richard were featured here in Sunday Notes a few weeks ago. “Nobody really knew the Astros. We played in anonymity. But Bob Watson was a leader. From the very first time I walked into spring training, everyone knew that Bob Watson was in charge. He didn’t have speed, and he didn’t have the home run numbers because we played in the Astrodome, but he could hit. His ability was compromised by where we played.”
From 1972-1978, Watson averaged 16 home runs and 89 RBIs while slashing .305/.375/.461 with a 137 wRC+ while wearing an Astros uniform. Over his 19-year career, he homered 184 times with a .295/.364/.447 slash line and a 128 wRC+. Jay Jaffe wrote a remembrance when the erstwhile slugger died in 2020.
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FARM NOTES
Caleb Bonemer is slashing .286/.405/.736 with 11 home runs and a 188 wRC+ over 111 plate appearances for the High-A Winston-Salem Dash. A second-round in 2024 out of Okemos (MI) High School, the 20-year-old shortstop/third baseman in the Chicago White Sox system is No. 33 on our Top 100.
Seth Hernandez has 41 strikeouts and has allowed just 10 hits and three runs in 22 innings for the Low-A Bradenton Marauders. Drafted sixth overall last year out of Corona (CA) High School, the 19-year-old right-hander in the Pittsburgh Pirates system is No. 45 on our Top 100.
Anthony Eyanson has 34 strikeouts and just three walks over 20-and-a-third innings for the High-A Greenville Drive. A third-round pick last year out of LSU, the 21-year-old right-hander in the Boston Red Sox system has surrendered seven hits and one run.
The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels (Low-A , Twins) demolished the Daytona Tortugas (Reds) on Thursday by a count of 24-8. Bruin Agbayani, a 19-year-old shortstop whom Minnesota selected in the sixth round of last year’s draft out of a Honolulu high school, went 4-for-6 with five runs scored. His father, Benny Agbayani, played for three MLB teams, primarily the New York Mets, from 1998-2002.
On Wednesday, the Visalia Rawhide (Low-A, Diamondbacks) scored six runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to beat the San Jose Giants (San Francisco) by a score of 9-8. The rally, which began with two walks and a pair of HBPs, was capped by a two-out, three-run homer by 20-year-old catcher Carlos Virahonda.
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A random obscure former player snapshot:
Jack Spring was part of what is probably the best trade in St. Louis Cardinals history. A southpaw from Spokane, Washington who pitched for seven MLB teams across the 1955-1965 seasons, Spring was one of six players involved in the June 1964 deal that sent Lou Brock to St. Louis and Ernie Broglio to the Chicago Cubs. His tenure with both clubs was brief and within that same season. In a career that included 155 appearances and a 12-5 won-lost record, Spring was sans a decision while hurling a combined nine frames for the NL rivals.
Spring spent several years in the Pacific Coast League, toeing the rubber for teams such as the San Francisco Seals and Portland Beavers. He later managed in the Northwest League. In 1972, Spring was at the helm of the Walla Walla Rainbows, a California Angels affiliate whose roster included Kurt Russell, a second baseman better known for having starred in numerous films.
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LINKS YOU’LL LIKE
Back when they were struggling to make ends meet in the minors, some Washington Nationals players had offseason jobs that included hanging drywall, digging trenches, and shooting coyotes. Spencer Nusbaum wrote about it at The Athletic.
Franklin D. Roosevelt held his final rally at Fenway Park a few days before winning the 1944 presidential election. Christopher Chavis wrote about it at Baseball and Us.
Fans keeping score at the ballpark has seen a resurgence in recent years. Jacob Feldman has the story at Sportico.
Pitcher List’s Jack Foley wrote about how there are two versions of Red Sox southpaw Connelly Early, one who attacks left-handed hitters, and one who attacks right-handed hitters.
Cincinnati Reds pitchers tied an MLB record yesterday by walking seven consecutive batters. Mike Axisa has the story at CBS Sports.
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RANDOM FACTS AND STATS
Houston Astros pitchers have walked 183 batters, the most in the majors. Seattle Mariners pitchers have walked 82 batters, the fewest in the majors. Astros and Mariners pitchers went into the weekend tied for the most HBPs, with 21 each (the Astros now have 22).
Boston Red Sox southpaw Ranger Suarez had 78 strikeouts and one walk over 80-and-two-thirds innings pitching in the Venezuelan Summer League in 2014.
Red Sox left-handers have combined to throw 166-and-a-third innings this season, the most of any team. Conversely. Red Sox right-handers have combined to throw 123 innings, the fewest of any team. They are the only MLB club with more lefty innings than right innings.
Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Paul Skenes is 5-0 with a 0.53 ERA in six career starts against the Cincinnati Reds. He is 0-5 with a 2.95 ERA in seven career starts against the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Chicago White Sox (38), Seattle Mariners (38), and St. Louis Cardinals (43) have hit the fewest triples since the start of the 2023 season. Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Corbin Carroll has hit 45 triples since the start of the 2023 season.
On today’s date in 1998, the Cleveland Indians scored five runs after two were out in the ninth inning to beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 10-8. Sandy Alomar Jr. walked it off with a three-run homer off of Roberto Hernandez.
On today’s date in 1930, the Brooklyn Robins scored five times in the top of the 10th inning, then held on for a 11-10 win over the St.Louis Cardinals at Sportsman’s Park. Johnny Frederick had a five-hit game for the winning side.
On today’s date in 1912, the New York Highlanders tallied 10 runs in the top of the ninth inning, only to have their rally fall short in an 18-15 loss to the Philadelphia Athletics. Hall of Fame left-hander Eddie Plank, who logged 326 career wins, came out of the bullpen to record the final two outs.
Players born on today’s date include Joe Kmak, a catcher who played in 51 games for the Milwaukee Brewers in 1993, and in 19 games for the Chicago Cubs in 1995. A native of Napa, California, Kmak counts one home run among his 37 base knocks, having taken Tyler Green deep in an 8-7 Cubs conquest of the Philadelphia Phillies at Wrigley Field.
Also born on today’s date was Dan Bankhead, who on August 26, 1947 became the first African American pitcher in MLB history when he took the mound for the Brooklyn Dodgers in a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. A right-hander from Empire, Alabama who’d previously played for the Birmingham Black Barons and Memphis Red Sox, Bankhead pitched poorly that day, although he did take Fritz Ostermueller deep in his first ever at-bat. All told, Bankhead went 26-10 with a 4.56 ERA over parts of three MLB seasons.