The Brewers announced Wednesday that they’ve signed right-handed reliever Mike Morin to a minor league contract and invited him to Major League Spring Training. Morin is represented by Meister Sports.
The 28-year-old Morin split the 2019 season between the Twins and the Phillies, pitching to a combined 4.62 ERA with 4.6 K/9, 1.8 BB/9, 1.1 HR/9 and a 40.4 percent grounder rate through 50 2/3 innings. That represented his largest MLB workload since 2016, as Morin has bounced up and down with the Angels, Royals and Mariners in recent years in an effort to recreate his terrific rookie campaign in 2014.
That season saw Morin debut just prior to his 23rd birthday and go on to rack up 59 innings of 2.90 ERA/3.08 FIP ball. Along the way, he averaged 8.2 K/9 against 2.9 BB/9. He’s had a rough go of it since that time, though Morin’s 2019 season does provide some reason for optimism. Statcast ranked him in the 96th percentile in terms of average exit velocity allowed and 98th in terms of overall hard-hit rate. If he can continue to limit hard contact at that rate, he could emerge as a low-cost bargain option in the ’pen. Morin also only has four years of big league service, so there’s potential to control him into 2021 if he makes the roster and enjoys a solid season.