The Yankees released right-hander Cody Morris, as per Morris’ MLB.com profile page. Morris was initially acquired from the Guardians in a trade last December, and the reliever was outrighted off New York’s 40-man roster back in July but remained in the organization until this week.
A seventh-round pick for Cleveland in the 2018 draft, Morris debuted in the Show with a 2.28 ERA in 23 2/3 innings with the Guardians in 2022, though both a teres major strain and continued control problems resulted in a 6.75 ERA over just eight big league frames in 2023. These 31 2/3 total innings remain the entirety of Morris’ MLB resume, as he didn’t receive any official playing time with the Yankees even though New York gave him a couple of brief call-ups to the 26-man roster.
Morris instead spent most of the year at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, where he posted a 4.03 ERA in 38 innings, along with a strong 27.1% strikeout rate. Morris has long been able to miss bats dating back to his college days with South Carolina, yet he has increasingly run into control issues in both the majors and upper minors. He had a 15.3% walk rate at Triple-A this season, and Morris’ brief time in the big leagues saw him post a 13% walk rate during his 31 2/3 total innings. The loss of control has more or less coincided with Morris’ move to being more or less a full-time relief pitcher over the last two seasons.
Since strikeout ability will always catch a team’s attention, Morris is likely to land somewhere on a minor league contract. At age 28, Morris still has late-bloomer potential, and an enterprising pitching coach or two might have some ideas about how to solve Morris’ control problems.
