by Michael Hurcomb | CBSSports.com (5/20/2013) Mariners DH Kendrys Morales tied a season-high with three hits Monday at Cleveland. It was the third time this season he accomplished the feat and second time in May.
Morales had two doubles, one run and two RBI Monday. He's batting .305 (18 for 59) with two home runs, six doubles and 11 RBI in 15 May games.
Kendrys Morales hits three-run homer
by Chris Cwik | CBSSports.com (5/13/2013) Mariners designated hitter Kendrys Morales hit his fourth home run of the season Sunday against the Athletics.
It didn't take the Mariners long to get ahead of Tommy Milone. After a leadoff single, Kyle Seager walked, paving the way for Morales. Morales hit a ball out to left field on the third pitch he saw from Milone. It was his only hit of the game. Morales is hitting .262/.351/.415 in 130 at-bats.
Mariners move Kendrys Morales into cleanup spot
by Michael Hurcomb | CBSSports.com (5/12/2013) Mariners manager Eric Wedge made a change to his lineup Sunday against the Athletics, moving Kyle Seager into the third spot in the batting order. Wedge made the move to alleviate some of the pressure felt by Kendrys Morales and Michael Morse, who moved down to fourth and fifth in the lineup, respectively.
"I’m playing around with it a little bit," Wedge said, per MLB.com. "I still stand by the fact that Morales and Morse are just trying to do too much. They know they’re the guys here and I think with that sometimes you put a little too much pressure on yourself to do too much. You see both of them chasing more than they should."
Morales is batting .333 (10 for 30) in his last eight games, but he hasn't homered in 14 games and is slugging a disappointing .397.
"Kendrys is so good, the on-base percentage, he’s going to hit," Wedge said. "He’s going to be fine in the end. But ultimately we need to be able to count on him every day."
Kendrys Morales sits in NL park
by Bill Passonno | CBSSports.com (5/7/2013) With Seattle opening a two-game interleague series at Pittsburgh, Mariners designated hitter Kendrys Morales was held out of the lineup Tuesday. Morales has spent the majority of his playing time as the DH this season, but has notched just three home runs in 32 games.
Kendrys Morales dealing with power outage
by Michael Hurcomb | CBSSports.com (5/5/2013) Mariners DH Kendrys Morales has managed a disappointing three home runs and a .393 slugging percentage through his first 31 games. His poor power numbers have forced his Fantasy ownership to sink to 81 percent.
So what gives? Well, starting off Morales appears to be more selective at the outset of the season. He's swung at just a career-low 27.6 percent of pitches outside the strike zone, which is below his career rate (33.2 percent), per FanGraphs.com. He also nearly has as many walks (13) as strikeouts (19), which isn't the norm for Morales. It's a bit odd to see this from Morales since he had no problems swinging away this spring, when he hit seven home runs in 19 spring games.
Morales' ISO -- which is a measure of a hitter's raw power -- is at .134, which is well below his career .206 mark. He also has just a 10 percent home run to fly ball ratio, which is well below what he did in 2012 (21 percent) and below his career average (16.5 percent).
All signs point to Morales likely to trend back toward the norm at some point, so if you can afford to be patient, then the rewards could be great down the road. If I'm a Kendrys Morales owner, then there's no way I'm dropping him onto waivers.
Kendrys Morales batting .324 in last 10 games
by Michael Hurcomb | CBSSports.com (5/2/2013) Mariners DH Kendrys Morales tied a season-high with three hits and had a season-best three RBI Wednesday against the Orioles. It was his second straight multi-hit game.
Morales is batting .324 (12 for 37) in his last 10 games, raising his season average from .235 to .267. Morales has one double, two home runs, four walks, four runs and six RBI in his last 10 games.
Kendrys Morales comes through for M's
by Jeff Lippman | CBSSports.com (4/28/2013) Mariners pinch-hitter Kendrys Morales singled home the winning run in the seventh inning Saturday night against the Angels. Morales' single to left scored Kyle Seager to give the game its final score at 3-2.
Morales was 1 for 1 in the game and the RBI was his 10th on the year. He's batting .261. Over his last six games, Morales has gone 7 for 20 (.350) with two homers and three RBI.
Kendrys Morales homers in consecutive games
by Michael Hurcomb | CBSSports.com (4/24/2013) Mariners DH Kendrys Morales homered in consecutive games for the first time this season Tuesday at Houston. Morales also managed multiple hits for the second straight game and fifth time this season.
Morales, who hit .083 in his first three games, has a .302/.413/.524/.937 slash line in his last 18 games. He has three home runs, five doubles, eight RBI, 10 walks and 12 strikeouts in that span.
Kendrys Morales trying to hit way out of slump
by Michael Hurcomb | CBSSports.com (4/17/2013) Mariners DH Kendrys Morales has slowed down offensively after a strong start to the season.
Morales hasn't managed a multi-hit game in his last seven starts, batting .182 (4 for 22) with one RBI, five walks and five strikeouts in that span. Morales opened the season with a .321 average (9 for 28) with one home run, three doubles and six RBI in his first seven games. He had a .536 slugging percentage in that span.
Kendrys Morales homers among three hits
by Ed Gauna | CBSSports.com (4/7/2013) Mariners first baseman Kendrys Morales recorded his second multi-hit performance in the last three contests on Sunday against the White Sox. He went 3 for 4 with a homer and a walk in a 4-3 loss.
The 29-year-old led off the fourth inning with a double before launching a solo shot off starter Chris Sale in the sixth. It was his first long ball of the year. He added a base hit in the eighth to complete his three-hit game.
Morales is batting .280 (7 for 25) through six games with four RBI and a .480 slugging percentage.
Kendrys Morales hitless in Seattle debut
by Bill Passonno | CBSSports.com (4/2/2013) After bashing seven home runs during the spring, Mariners designated hitter Kendrys Morales went 0 for 4 with a strikeout during Seattle's 2-0 season-opening win over Oakland Monday night. Morales settled into the No. 3 spot in the batting order during his debut with the team but was one of four Mariners players to finish without a hit.
Missing the boat on Kendrys Morales?
by Michael Hurcomb | CBSSports.com (3/26/2013) Later this year when I'm evaluating my Draft Day strategies, I think one of my biggest regrets will be not paying enough attention to Mariners first baseman Kendrys Morales -- and I don't think I will be the only one singing this sad tune.
Through Monday, Morales' average draft position in Rotisserie leagues was 174 and 186 in Head-to-Head leagues. He's been translating into a late-round Fantasy pick, and I think he's going to end up as one of 2013's biggest Draft Day steals.
You can fault me for putting too much stock into Morales' spring numbers (.327 average, six HRs, 13 RBI in 15 games), but he's just building off of what he did last season. Morales hit .278 with a .567 slugging percentage, .896 OPS, 13 homers, 15 doubles and 34 RBI in his final 51 games.
Morales had to go through an adjustment period last season because he missed so much time with an ankle injury. But it appears Morales is back to his old form and that's great news for Fantasy owners.
Kendrys Morales connects on third spring homer
by R.J. White | CBSSports.com (3/16/2013) Mariners 1B/DH Kendrys Morales hit his third home run of the spring in a 5-2 win over the Rockies on Saturday. In addition to homering off Rockies starter Drew Pomeranz, Morales had a single to raise his spring average to .371. Playing DH should help keep Morales healthy, so he can possibly improve on the 22 home runs he had last season.
Morales looking to prove himself
by Jeff Lippman | CBSSports.com (2/16/2013) Seattle first baseman Kendrys Morales wants to show the Mariners this spring that he is ready to man first base on a daily basis, reports the Seattle Times Saturday. This is Morales' first healthy spring since he broke his leg in 2010. “I feel good,” he said, through an interpreter. “I’m working to strengthen my ankle and as of right now, I feel pretty good.”
Morales, Mariners agree to deal
by Nando Di Fino | Senior Fantasy Writer (1/18/2013) CBSSports.com Baseball Insider Jon Heyman reported on Friday that the Seattle Mariners have agreed to a one-year, $5.25 million deal with first baseman Kendrys Morales. The Mariners acquired Morales in a January deal for pitcher Jason Vargas.
Seattle deals for Morales
by Al Melchior | Data Analyst (12/19/2012) The Mariners acquired first baseman/designated hitter Kendrys Morales from the Angels on Wednesday, sending starting pitcher Jason Vargas in return, as reported by MLB.com. By trading Morales, the Angels relieved a logjam of designated hitter and outfield candidates, while the Mariners get a much-needed power bat. After missing the entire 2011 season and most of the 2010 season in the aftermath of ankle surgery, Morales hit .273 with 22 home runs and 73 RBI in 2012.
Knobler: Angels prefer to move Morales
(12/17/2012) CBSSports.com Baseball Insider Danny Knobler reported Monday that the Angels would prefer to trade Kendrys Morales rather that Mark Trumbo or Peter Bourjos. Josh Hamilton signing in Anaheim created a surplus of outfielders but the club would rather move Morales and have Trumbo serve as DH with Bourjos playing the outfield.
