Yohandy Morales is mashing and making a case for a big league call up

Q: What are Yohandy Morales' current batting statistics in AAA?

Yohandy Morales is hitting .330 with a .917 OPS in 31 AAA games this season.

Q: How does Yohandy Morales' exit velocity compare to other AAA hitters?

Morales has an average exit velocity just under 92 MPH, with a 90th percentile exit velocity of 108.2 MPH, ranking in the 95th percentile among AAA hitters.

Q: What challenges might Yohandy Morales face in the MLB?

Morales may struggle with a high strikeout rate and ground ball tendencies, which could be exploited by better MLB pitchers.

Q: What is Yohandy Morales' ranking among Washington Nationals prospects?

Yohandy Morales is currently ranked as the 28th prospect in the Washington Nationals system.

PORT ST. LUCIE, FLORIDA - MARCH 15, 2024: Yohandy Morales #35 of the Washington Nationals runs out a single during the fourth inning of a spring training Spring Breakout game against the New York Mets at Clover Park on March 15, 2024 in Port St. Lucie, Florida. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images) | Diamond Images/Getty Images Prior to the season, the Rochester Red Wings, the Nats AAA affiliate, got a lot of hype. Their lineup featured the likes of Dylan Crews, Harry Ford, Abimelec Ortiz, Robert Hassell III, and Christian Franklin. Former second round pick Yohandy Morales got lost in the shuffle a bit, but he has been the Red Wings best hitter so far this season. Morales is a noteworthy prospect in his own right. Back in 2023, he was the Nats second round pick out of the University of Miami, and received a $2.6 million signing bonus. Since becoming a pro, Morales has been solid, but not spectacular. In his two full seasons as a pro, he posted OPS marks of .784 and .769. Entering this season, he was still a notable prospect, but had lost a little bit of shine. This year he is regaining that stock. Morales is .330 with a .917 OPS in 31 AAA games. The 24 year old has been red hot in his last 18 games, hitting over .400 with 4 home runs. Morales splits his time between third and first base, two positions where the Nats have not been especially productive. With how he is hitting, Morales could get called up before too long. Yohandy Morales’ best attribute is that he absolutely hits the snot out of the ball. His average exit velocity is just under 92 MPH, which is very good. Morales’ 90th percentile exit velocity, a good measure for raw power, is 108.2 MPH, which in the 95th percentile of AAA hitters. His max exit velocity of 113.1 MPH is also elite. Morales is a hard hit machine, and that allows him to get a lot of hits despite having some swing and miss issues. Right now, Morales’ is .426, which is an unsustainable number. However, he is naturally going to be a guy who runs a high batting average on balls in play due to his exit velocities and the fact he hits a lot of ground balls and low liners. His BABIP in the minors is .379. This allows Morales to hit for average despite striking out over 25% of the time. However, those ground balls are part of what makes me nervous about Morales’ profile. While he is mashing right now, I wonder how he will translate to the big leagues. Not many MLB hitters have success with a high strikeout rate, a high ground ball rate and a high chase rate. Even this year, Morales is the ball on the ground 51.4% of the time and striking out 26.1% of the time. I have a feeling that there will be a serious learning curve for Morales once he hits the big leagues. Better pitchers will exploit these flaws in his game and not as many of his ground balls will find holes. With how he is performing though, he deserves to get a chance at some point though. This season Morales has actually spent at third base, which is interesting. In the previous two seasons, Morales has spent more time at first than third, but that has changed this year. Some of that is likely due to playing with Abimelec Ortiz, but it is still something worth noting. With struggling on both sides of the ball, there could be a path to playing time for Morales if he keeps this up. He is no longer one of the sexy new toys in the Nats system, so he is going to have to bang down the door if he wants to get to the big leagues. That is exactly what he is doing right now. Right now, he is the in the system, and has slowly been falling down the ranks the last couple years. Between his warts at the plate and his questionable defensive profile, there are some serious questions about Morales’ game. For him to reach his ceiling, he is going to have to hit the ball in the air more. He hits the ball hard enough to be a big power guy, but those home run totals have never popped due to his batted ball profile. Morales has only 27 homers in over 1,000 minor league at bats. I still have plenty of unanswered questions about Morales. Can he play third base at a big league level? What will the strikeout numbers look like in the big leagues? Can his Babip stay super high in the MLB and will he tap into his power? However, with the way he is hitting, Yohandy Morales has earned the opportunity to answer some of these questions one way or the other. He deserves a call up if he keeps hitting like this and I am curious to see how he does when he gets the call.