MINNEAPOLIS — Andrew Morris was 16 years old when I met him. The occasion was a July 4 Perfect Game tournament in Lake Point, Ga., where I was coaching a Team Colorado 17U squad.
These annual events are money grabs disguised as baseball, but our roster had college-worthy players who were receiving legitimate interest. It felt worth it. Little did I know how much Morris would lend credence to our 1,400-mile trek.
For those not familiar with the out-of-state event, you can be assured of getting your ears boxed without quality pitching. After a disappointing performance in Albuquerque the week before, adding an arm was a priority.
Luke Martin, a longtime Team Colorado member, said he knew a kid who could fit — Morris, a high school teammate at Monarch High School in Louisville.
Morris met us in Atlanta. He was 5-11 or so, 145 pounds with disheveled hair. Imagine running Tim Lincecum through the copy machine at 80 percent, and that was Andrew.
Affable, smiling, he informed me and fellow coach Craig Gienger at the field the next morning that he could throw 90 mph. His build and the scarcity of fireballers in Colorado made me pessimistic.
We put him on the mound against the 643 DP Cougars, and a striking metamorphosis took place.
His first pitch clocked 91 mph on the scoreboard. I turned to Gienger and blurted, “Where has he been all of our lives?”
“I just remember hitters returning to the dugout with that look, ‘what was that?’ ” said Gienger, the longtime head coach at Douglas County High School. “They clearly were not picking the ball up.”
Morris dazzled in Georgia, throwing a no-hitter in 1-0 loss, combining on a no-hitter in relief and delivering a game-winning single at the plate.
“We should have won my first start. I had six walks,” Morris said, taking blame for our offense. “All those guys were like 2019 grads on the team. I was a 2018 grad and they were all older than me. It was kind of funny. But, man, I had a lot of fun.”
The last time I saw Morris was a week ago in Minneapolis. He walked from the back of the Minnesota Twins clubhouse and gave me a hug. He was in the big leagues, a long reliever in the Twins bullpen.
Having covered MLB for nearly 20 years, I have chronicled countless journeys to The Show. But this hit different, a mixture of pride and overwhelming joy.
Let’s be clear, I had nothing to do with Morris’ pitching development and talent. But the four games he took the mound for us that summer — and the plates he broke at Six Flags over Georgia to win an oversized donut — made me convinced he would get drafted.
Seeing Morris, now 24 and married to Anaya after a courthouse ceremony two years ago during spring training, reaffirmed my faith in hard work and dreams.
“Since forever, that’s how long I have been imagining this. It was always what I wanted since I was little,” Morris said. “I think that competitor was always in there. I was going against older kids, and I was the young guy, the underdog. My attitude was, ‘I can do this. It doesn’t matter how big I am.’ ”
So much about Morris is unique. He graduated from high school at 16 years old, the result of starting preschool young and testing out of the second grade.He went from battling an injury in his junior year and throwing 83 miles per hour, to being named
He signed with Colorado Mesa University as a two-way player, and dominated on the mound, posting an 18-2 record with 215 strikeouts in 175 2/3 innings. He needed a new challenge, transferring to Texas Tech for his final college season, a move that served its purpose and also reset his personal compass.
“The last year at Mesa, there wasn’t a lot of adversity. It was good for me to push myself. And I was able to have a Friday night role in the Big 12. I think it made the transition to pro ball a lot smoother,” said Morris, who makes Colorado his offseason home. “They wanted me to put on 20 pounds. I was on board with that. But my mechanics got out of whack. I can’t even watch videos from then. In the end, I learned a lot.”
Morris is a thinker. A problem solver. He returned to 185 pounds this offseason, leaving him “strong, mobile and twitchy.” He positioned himself to reach the big leagues.
But, he thought he was ready last summer. Morris lives in an apartment near Target Field, and never felt further away as he pitched for Triple-A St. Paul.
“I had a forearm strain, and when I came back, I was throwing well. Everything felt good. All I wanted to do was get up there and help the team. Every time they needed someone, I was ready. And it didn’t happen,” said Morris, who compiled a 2.98 ERA in 68 minor league appearances. “The ups and downs of emotions were hard. Going into this spring training, I was in a much better headspace, not worrying about stuff out of my control.”
The Twins told Morris during the Grapefruit League that they viewed him as a candidate for a role in the rotation and bullpen. He went to work, and after two strong minor league outings, received the call he had been waiting for since his mother, Tricia Leines, held a birthday-themed party for him when he was 2 years old.
“We were in Toledo at the time. And we flew into Detroit, which is about an hour away. So I had to run back to the hotel to get my stuff, literally run,” Morris said. “I told my wife you have to get a ticket to Toronto and I will call everybody, my mom and dad. She was freaking out. To be able to make my debut (on April 12) with family there was so cool.”
Morris has held his own with a 5.17 ERA in 15 2/3 innings, becoming “an awesome” addition, said all-star starter Joe Ryan. Coming out of the bullpen, his fastball has added nitro, topping out at 98 mph. He throws a four-seam, two-seam, cutter, changeup, sweeper and curveball.
“Andrew said he was game for anything to reach the big leagues, which is always an encouraging mindset,” Twins general manager Jeremy Zoll said. “He has shown some really good signs in his outings and we think his future is really bright.”
Morris intersected with his past in February. LaTroy Hawkins welcomed him as the Twins’ new bullpen coach. The same Hawkins who helped the Rockies reach the World Series in 2007.
“So I went to a Rockies spring training game when I was a kid. I was near the bullpen with my dad and yelling for LaTroy to throw me a ball. He wouldn’t give it to me,” Morris said. “I left there thinking he’s the worst. And now he’s one of my coaches. LaTroy is great. But, I couldn’t wait to tell him that story.”
Hawkins laughed when it was brought up. He promised to make it right.
Can’t say I am surprised. It felt like things were going to go Morris’ way the first time he unleashed that fastball at LakePoint.
“Oh man, I felt so bad about it,” Hawkins said. “We are going to take a picture of me handing Andrew a ball and send it to his dad. He’s a good kid.”
