Hot hitting Brent Morel will make his Major League debut in the coming days. The third baseman was added to the 40-man roster and called up while the White Sox moved Erick Threets from the 15-day disabled list to the 60-day DL to make room for Morel. Morel has been one of the most productive White Sox prospects this year.
Morel started the year with Birmingham and didn’t take long to adjust to AA pitching. He hit an impressive .326 with the Barons with a .376 on-base percentage and a .440 slugging. After just two months in the Southern League, the Sox promoted him to AAA Charlotte.
After a sluggish June, Morel has been killing the ball for the Knights. Overall, he hit .320 with a .348 OBP and a .503 SLG in 306 at-bats with 13 walks and 50 strikeouts. He hit .347 in July and posted a .990 OPS in August. Another positive is that Morel is not only hitting in Charlotte’s bandbox. The 23-year-old actually has a significantly higher OPS on the road (.912 vs. .783).
Morel’s bat has been hot, but his defense is arguably the best part of his game. With Dayan Viciedo back in Charlotte, Morel had been playing shortstop. Baseball America’s John Manuel tweeted Morel was “Solid
there, made all the plays, seems like a better fit at third, wonder if
he could play 2B, where his bat seems to fit better.”
With Gordon Beckham’s injury and Mark Teahen’s struggles at third, it’s possible Morel was brought up for some insurance at third. I would be surprised if he plays any shortstop with the Sox, but obviously could in an emergency.
Morel, a 3rd round pick out of Cal Poly in 2008, joins Beckham and Dan Hudson as members of the White Sox ’08 draft class to make it to the Majors quickly. He has been compared to Joe Randa on a few occasions and that seems to fit Morel’s game. He is a high contact/average hitter with below average power for third base, but plus defense at the hot corner.