Top Prospect Morejon Strong in Fort Wayne Debut
Almost a week ago, it surfaced that 18 year old Adrian Morejon would be getting promoted to full season A ball.
After starting seven games for short-season Tri-City, Morejon showed tremendous control and feel for his pitches. He seemed more advanced than other competition in the league. The Padres decided to promote him to challenge him in an effort to help develop that Padres’ prized prospect.
Over his seven starts with Tri-City, Morejon posted a 2-2 record with a 3.57 ERA. Most notable was Morejon’s 37 strikeouts to only three walks. When the Padres’ scouted Morejon, out of Cuba, they noted his exceptional control and feel for the strike zone. He hasn’t disappointed in his short professional baseball career.
In his A-ball debut, Morejon went five innings giving up only one earned run, five hits, two Ks, and no walks.
Morejon gave up all five hits to right-handed batters. Left handed batters went a combined 0-8, while righties went 5-12. As a southpaw, dominating left-handed batters is more common, but it is a good sign to see that he is already doing just that. The only run he surrendered was in the 3rd inning after allowing a single, followed by a double. Morejon settled down to get out of the inning with a weak ground out and an infield pop-up.
TinCaps won the ballgame 3-2, although Morejon didn’t factor into the decision, as the TinCaps scored all three of their runs after he left the game.
Adrian Morejon is currently ranked as the Padres’ 5th best prospect, and the 80th best in all of baseball. By the end of the season we could see the youngsters prospect ranking soar into the top 50. Padres’ signed Morejon last July for $11 million signing bonus. He projects to be a number 1 or 2 starter in the big leagues. His fastball sits around 93 mph but an uptick in velocity is likely as he continues to grow. He has a devastating curveball that is also rated as a plus pitch along with his fastball. He also throws a unique knuckle-change.
Morejon is easily one of the youngest players in the Midwest league at the age of 18, nearly four years younger than the league average. Being one of the youngest in the league is nothing new to Morejon who pitched for the Cuba 15 and under and 18 an under National team. He was the 15 and under MVP of the World Cup in Mexico in 2014.
Morejon has the capability to move through the Padres’ farm system quickly and could make it to the majors by the age of 21. It will be fun to see how he pitches the rest of 2017 in the Midwest League. He likely will repeat the 2018 season in Fort Wayne, but look for an early season promotion to Class A (adv) Lake Elsinore Storm.
