The Philadelphia Phillies have acquired right-handed pitcher Mike Morin from the Minnesota Twins in exchange for cash considerations, the team announced. Seranthony Dominguez was transferred to the 60-day injured list to make room for Morin on the 40-man roster.
The Twins designated Morin for assignment earlier this week in order to activate Eddie Rosario and C.J. Cron from the injured list. The 28-year-old gave the Twins two solid months of production out of the bullpen. He ends his Minnesota tenure after 23 appearances with a 3.18 ERA across 22 2/3 innings.
In contrast with his sparkly ERA figure, fielding independent pitching pegs Morin’s runs per nine at 4.50. Taken in conjunction with a 4.4 K/9 and .230 BABIP, and there’s cause enough to suspect Morin benefited from a tough of good luck while pitching for the Twinkies. Still, by pounding the zone (5.5 BB%) with an arsenal of downward driving sinkers, changeups, and sliders, Morin has suppressed opponents’ launch angle to a below-average 8.2 while limiting hard contact to just under 30% (league average is 34.4%).
If Morin keeps generating groundballs as he has for the Twins (47.4 GB% versus a career mark of 42.3%), he would fit the profile of someone capable of outperforming his FIP with some regularity – but that’s not been the book on Morin in the past. He is, however, prominently featuring a sinker for the first time in his 6-year career. Morin’s career resume includes a 4.48 ERA across 209 relief appearances for the Angels, Royals, Mariners and Twins.
For the Phillies, Morin provides another low-cost option for a pen that has thus far been unspectacular. Phillie relievers rank in the bottom-10 league-wide in ERA and FIP while pulling 29th with a -0.7 fWAR so far in 2019.
jessecc08
17 dollars, how’s that?
The Einheri
With MORE to Come…
PickleRiccck
Spider-Man statue to be taken down over ‘demonic’ imagery,
classicmntwins
LOL-That might be a bit high of a price-I am only a little surprised that they pulled the plug on him this early, tells you a lot about how the Twins valued him in the long-term obviously.
frank_costanza
Really solid pickup here. Relievers are fickle from year to year and Morin looks to be either figuring it out or having a hot year. Big upgrade for the Phils.
DarkSide830
take it as you will, but even though his FIP is larger than his ERA this year, he came in with a 3.32 mark coming in. Either he’s the kind of guy who can outperform his FIP, or he does have this potential.
qazer
Or he’s been lucky.
DarkSide830
what im saying is that means he was unlucky in years past, because he well underperformed his FIP. overall, his FIP has never well defined him, as happens with some pitchers.
frank_costanza
FIP is a flawed metric.
His peripherals are good. He’s allowing less than a base runner per inning and he doesn’t walk guys. You’d like to see a higher K/9 rate for a reliever but he’s not the first reliever to be successful pitching to contact. He won’t be a high leverage guy, but as someone who can come in and pitch a clean seventh inning this is a big boost for them.
DadsInDaniaBeach
I’d rather see a solid rotation piece..Smylie isn’t it. Arrieta is day too day..talk about thin..
now, when the team is starting to hit some again, it is more important to have some one that can give them 6 solid innings…all I see is Nola
frank_costanza
Patience. They need pen and rotation help. They’re not done.
asdfgh
Lol, looks like Phillies fans are realizing stupid money doesn’t buy championships. And to think this is year 1/13. Considering I saw philly fans bring D batteries to throw at JD Drew I don’t want to know what happens if you guys don’t win anything during this era
Jayphils
For the record they did not bring the batteries, they in the giveaway that day. Better than San Fran and Dodger fans killing each other
DarkSide830
well at least most of us aren’t trolls
paul j
“Considering I saw philly fans bring D batteries to throw at JD Drew”
sure you did.
frank_costanza
The 2009 Yankees beg to differ.
Philadelphia is a wonderful city with great sports fans. There’s a reason players want to go there.
Vogt83
you forgot santa and all the other nonsense that’s decades old. They bought one player after waiting 4 years to clear the books. J.T. was a trade. Hoskins, Nola, Kingery all homegrown. Get your facts straight before you look silly. I suppose the Padres are trying to buy a WS too??
rgreen
You forgot to mention we cheered when Michael Irvin got hurt and we once threw snowballs at Santa.
Harper got off to a slow start,but he’s been coming around.He should still be able to drive in 100 runs,and flirt with 40 2bs and 30 hrs.Still just entering his prime too.Struggling early,after signing late don’t worry me as much as the age 33 and on years do,when the bat speed starts to fade.Phillies current problems are more about not having any pitching beyond Nola,losing McCutchen,Herrera choking his girl,and the dead spot in the lineup at 3b.
We already knew simply spending wouldn’t win us a chip,but it certainly helps.And they really weren’t that stupid with their spending.
Black Ace57
People who bring up the batteries thing which is almost 25 years old or bring up throwing snowballs at Santa are either trolls or clearly have something against Philadelphia. Hard to take any points they make after that seriously.
asdfgh
google.com/amp/s/www.sbnation.com/platform/amp/mlb…
Lol I am no troll, I am someone who knows some great philly fans as well some of the worst ones. Just like every team, band, well except trump, all his fans are terrible.
DarkSide830
Smyly is a stopgap at worst. Someone will replace him soon, and if not, that means he pitched well enough to not need to be replaced.
phantomofdb
Twins are desperate for pitching and they DFA and then sell, for cash, a pitcher with a low 3 ERA.
It’s very difficult to be a twins fan lately. They should have ADDED multiple pitchers by now, but they’re giving some away.
wjf010
Trade deadline less than two weeks away. Relax. Not sure why the angst over trading away a journeyman relief pitcher who was, at the time, the 6th option out of the bullpen. Forget the trading-card stats….he wasn’t as good as those stats may tell you.
phantomofdb
Possibly because their lead has gone from 12 to 3 in less than a months time, and they’re giving away their area of weakness. It’s definitely not time to “relax”
Monkey’s Uncle
This can’t be last move the Phillies make… so I guess that there’s Morin store?
TC Zencka
Good work here.
DarkSide830
not gonna lie, that comment made me smyle
AndyMeyer
Applause
Dumpster Divin Theo
One man’s garbage….another’s treasure
DarkSide830
Hey, Klentak actually listened.
bobfromboyntonbeach
As a long time Indian fan, I really appreciate the grit and competitiveness of Trevor Bauer. I have followed his career since the Indians acquired him and he has honed his skills and grown as a person and teammate every year. No one out works him.
He has tried to improve his pitching by studying the science of pitching and unique training methods. He has been a rebel and he is often outspoken, but he is now a great teammate and many will miss him if he is traded. Most Tribe fans will miss him as well. I thought it had all come together last year when he was on his way to the Cy Young Award. If he had not been injured, I know he would have won that last year. Trevor….Best Wishes to you and Thank You for what you do!!!
edcl54
Klentak has the exact same talent as Amaro did when GM. Get a couple good players then go dumpster diving. Hope Klentaks future is the same as Amaro’s in philly. ENDED
jeb39999
Yay cash!
RoyalsFanAmongWolves
Man this “player” Cash sure moves around a lot! The Royals just got him from the Yankees for terrance gore & now he’s going to the twins? How many teams is he going to go to this year?
Rich Hill’s Elbow
If a team is willing to give up cash for Morin I wonder what Magill and Mejia will bring back, because both have way better stuff him.
wjf010
Mejia, yes. Magill? You’ve got to be kidding.
Mr. Sarcasm
The Phillies were super aggressive in building a lineup of everyday players that they thought would slide them right into the playoffs. But building a great lineup is only half of the equation. They were not nearly as aggressive in acquiring starting pitching. I don’t understand where they thought Jake, Pivetta, VV and Eickhoff were going to all have miraculous breakout seasons. Bad decisions to go along with a lineup that hasn’t met the expectations we all had wanted and expected. They will finish 3rd in the division and probably lower in the wildcard.