A's No. 2 Prospect Added to MLB Futures Game Roster
The MLB Futures Game rosters were announced this week, and the Oakland Athletics will have one representative in the team's No. 2 prospect, Luis Morales.
Congratulations to Luis Morales on being selected to the 2024 All-Star #FuturesGame in Arlington! 👏 pic.twitter.com/cZ9DtK27jk
— Oakland A's (@Athletics) July 2, 2024
Morales signed as a free agent in January of 2023 out of Cuba and pitched a total of 44 innings between four different levels last season, ranging from the Dominican Summer League up to High-A Lansing. The largest share of those innings came in A Ball with the Stockton Ports.
In his time with the Ports, Morales racked up a 2.20 ERA in 16 1/3 innings pitched, collecting 18 strikeouts and walking eight.
This season with Lansing, the 21-year-old right-hander has started 11 games and in that time he has amassed 38 1/3 innings with a 4.46 ERA. His strikeout rate has stayed steady at about 25% between his stint in High-A last year and what he's done this season, and his walk rate has also continued to hover around 9.5%.
The shortened version of Morales' scouting report on FanGraphs reads, "Morales has an ideal pitcher's frame and some of the most electric arm speed in the minors." They also grade him as a 50 Future Value player with a fastball that could rate as a 70 on the 20-80 scout scale. The main factors he'll need to work on are his changeup, which will give him a third pitch as a starter, and his command.
FanGraphs rates the changeup as a current value 35 (below average) but with the potential to be a 55 offering (well above average). As for his command, that's currently at the lower end of the scout scale at a 30, with the future value given as a 45, which would be average.
The MLB Futures Game will take place on Saturday, July 13 at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, and MLB Network will broadcast the game, which starts at 1 p.m. PST. A full list of the players involved can be found here.
JASON BURKE
Jason is the host of the Locked on A's podcast, and the managing editor of Inside the A's. He's a new father and can't wait to take his son to his first baseball game at the Coliseum.