Tampa Bay Rays: Logan Morrison’s Incredible Resurgence

Logan Morrison got off to a terrible start to the 2016 season with the Tampa Bay Rays, but has remarkably turned his season around the past month.

On May 2nd, Tampa Bay Rays first baseman Logan Morrison was slashing .094/.147/.125, good for a -27 wRC+. That means he was producing offense at a 27 percent lower clip than league average, that in 68 plate appearances.

At that time, LoMo was striking out in nearly 37 percent of his plate appearances, his BABIP was sitting at .154, and his ISO was worse than most slap hitters at an abysmal .031. Morrison had produced a league worst -1.0 fWAR in the first month of the season, meaning he was one win worse than a replacement Triple-A level player.

There was plenty of concern about how much longer the Rays could actually justify keeping Morrison in a major league uniform.

However, Rays manager Kevin Cash decided to stick with Morrison, despite his struggles. One of the reasons for that decision, Cash liked how Morrison battled through the slump.

"“His confidence — it was amazing how he carried himself,” Cash said. “Probably the most impressive personality for a month that I saw out of anybody I’ve ever been around in baseball for scuffling.“He just carried himself real well. He stayed positive. He continued to be a really good teammate, pulling for the guys when he wasn’t playing. And he continued to get his work in constantly. I’m really happy for him how it turned around. And hopefully he remains hot, because we need him to.”"

Morrison, who had some run-ins with the Miami Marlins front office in the past, was reportedly seen as a problem in the Marlins clubhouse near the end of his tenure with the franchise.

He has however really matured as a person since that time, something he acknowledges is due to the birth of his daughter, Ily, this past September.

More from Tampa Bay Rays

• A review of the St. Louis Cardinals trade that sent Randy Arozarena to the Tampa Bay Rays
• AL East: 1 screw up the Yankees, Red Sox, Orioles, Rays and Blue Jays can make at the MLB trade deadline
• Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays, Orioles, Rays: 1 July bold prediction for every AL East team
• Neander, Bendix and the 2023 Tampa Bay Rays: A mid-term grade
• MLB hot take: 5 disappointing players on contending teams

Cash’s faith in sticking with Morrison seems to have paid out big time for the Rays.

Since May 7th, LoMo has slashed .374/.462/.637 with a 203 wRC+. He has cut his strikeout rate nearly 20 points, while walking in nearly 15 percent of his at bats. He has hit seven home runs and collected three doubles in that span.

In the past 30 days, Morrison owns the third highest wRC+ (203) and has produced a 1.5 fWAR, the 11th best in the league in that span.

What changed for Morrison to spark this incredible turn around?

Morrison credits his pitch selection improving as the reason for his turnaround. And that is something that seems to check out.

During his hot streak, Morrison has decreased his swings on pitches outside of the zone from 30 percent to 25 percent. He has swung at three percent more on pitches in the zone and overall dropped his swinging percentage by two percent.

More from Call to the Pen

• Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
• Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
• Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
• Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
• 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals

Morrison’s swinging strike percentage was 13.9 percent through May 2nd. In the past month, it has bottomed out to 9.9 percent.

As a result of this selectivity, Morrison has improved his zone contact rate from 78 percent early in the season to 90 percent. His overall contact rate has jumped from 68 percent to 78 percent.

Morrison is one hundred percent right. His pitch selection and plate discipline, something he was well-known for coming up as a prospect, have been what has been the key for his resurgence.

Another key for Morrison has been his emphasis to hit the ball to center field. Throughout his slump, Morrison pulled the ball 51.3 percent of the time and hit the ball to center 23.1 percent of the time. During his hot streak, Morrison has lowered his pull-rate 45.8 percent of the time and has hit the ball to center 34.7 percent of the time.

In addition to the improved plate selection and the focus on hitting the ball up the middle more, Morrison has also made more solid contact during his resurgence. Morrison has hit the ball medium or hard 84.7 percent of the time in the month of May and June, while he was hitting the ball medium or hard 71.8 percent of the time in April.

Morrison has also seen his groundball percentage dip from 56.4 percent to 47.2 percent during his hot streak. His line drive percentage has jumped to 27.8 percent from 10.3 percent early on.

Overall, Morrison has just flat-out been a better hitter and a better player than he was to begin the season. That has saved his job and made him one of the better players in baseball over the past month.

The former top Marlins prospect has shown flashes of his potential throughout his major league career, but at age 28, could he potentially be headed towards a breakout?

That does not seem likely, as his hot streak has been aided by a .415 BABIP. Once that regresses towards his career .326 BABIP mark, you can expect to see the rest of his line regress downward as well.

Next: MLB Twitter account power rankings

However, Morrison should still be a better hitter than he was to begin the season and is unlikely to have too many questions surrounding his job security again.