Top Hitters in Milwaukee Brewers Minor League History: # 18 Hunter Morris, 2012 Huntsville

(Note: after I compiled my list of the Top Hitters in Milwaukee Brewers Minor League History and posted the first six players, I found that #19, Trent Oeltjen, actually played for two different teams in 2010 and I calculated his season with the combined stats. Due to that error, I am skipping #19 and moving to #18.)

Hunter Morris was selected in the second round of the 2007 MLB Draft by the Boston Red Sox, but he elected to attend Auburn University. After playing three seasons at Auburn, Morris was chosen by the Milwaukee Brewers in the fourth round of the 2010 draft.

The left-handed hitting first sacker reported to Appleton, WI to play for the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers of the Midwest League. In 71 games and 314 plate appearances, Morris slashed .251/.306/.436 and then played an additional 17 games in the Arizona Fall League, where he hit only .242 in 72 trips to the plate.

Morris split the 2011 season at Brevard County (126 games) and Huntsville (4 games). The promotion to Huntsville was in late May, most likely an injury or promotion bump, but he performed well, going 6 for 17 with a double, triple, and home run.

That cup of coffee at the AA Southern League was a precursor of things to come in 2012. Morris earned bonus points for being 1.3 years younger than league average but none for park advantage/disadvantage.

#18 Hunter Morris, 2012 Huntsville (AA) 

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Morris started the season 0-for-12, but then collected two hits in his fourth game and never looked back. He had 13 hitting streaks of at least five games, including a season-high 10 game streak in late July. Morris had 12 games in which he collected three hits, and banged out four hits in another two games. Not too many ‘0-fers’ during the season.

He hit .303/.337/.485 in 104 April plate appearances and similar numbers in May and June, but he really busted out in July.

Morris slashed .340/.393/.736 in 117 trips, including 10 round-trippers. He slumped a little in August, batting only .261, but he had six homers and 26 RBI. In two September games, Morris went 5 for 8 with a double, homer, and five RBI to close out his fabulous season.

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He performed slightly better at Joe Davis Stadium than on the road (1.001 OPS vs .845) and hit righties better than southpaws (.990 vs .753), but overall had a great season, earning him a promotion to AAA Nashville in 2013.

2013 was an okay season, as Morris hit 24 homers at Nashville, but slashed only .247/.310/.457 in 134 games.

He started the 2014 season in Nashville but got injured in late June and would not return to the field until August when he began a five-game rehab stint in the Arizona Rookie League. From there he played seven games at Huntsville before playing the last two weeks of the season at Nashville.

His season totals showed .275/.322/.434 in just 401 plate appearances.

After five season in the Brewers organization, Morris was designated for assignment in January 2015 and was acquired by Pittsburgh for a PTBNL in early April. Morris is struggling badly this year at AAA Indianapolis, hitting only .146/.174/.159 in 87 plate appearances.

Unless he is able to return to his 2012 form, Hunter Morris’ baseball career might soon be over.