What if I told you high-upside college infielders and toilet paper having something in common in 2021?
Yes, it’s true. No matter how hard you look, they’re both hard to find this year.
All jokes aside, 2021 really isn’t a great year for college middle infielders in regards to the MLB Draft, but there are a few who may help anchor what is otherwise a rather one-ply roll of players.
Boston College has two of them, and the most talented of the duo may be Cody Morissette. The Exeter, New Hampshire product was reasonably unheralded coming out of high school. While Perfect Game ranked him the second-best shortstop coming out of his state, he was also the 218th ranked shortstop in the entire prep class.
At that point, Morissette was a small-framed kid. Some reports had him listed a 5-foot-11, 165 pounds during the 2018 draft. Area scouts didn’t project him a future shortstop either.
Now, I don’t want to throw a hard label of second base or shortstop or third base on him just yet. He’s been quite nomadic on the dirt in his time in Newton, Massachusetts -- something that may play to his advantage come draft time.
That said, 2019 saw Morissette start every single game, 58 of them, at second base for Boston College. Now, starting every single game in a season for a college program is an accomplishment in and of itself. Doing so as an 18-year-old, and an unheralded one at that? Pretty unheard of stuff.
Head Coach Mike Gambino couldn’t exactly pull him from the lineup though; not with how he was pummeling the baseball.
His impact was immediate hitting .320 with 20 doubles, two triples, four home runs and 41 RBIs in 231 at-bats. Those results landed Morissette high praise in the baseball community. He was selected to the All-ACC Second Team and Freshman Teams, as well as being named a Third Team All-American by Collegiate Baseball News. Morissette was also named a Freshman All-American by Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball News and Perfect Game.
It didn’t stop there.
He just kept hitting.
In 2020, prior to the shutdown, Morissette was slashing .448/.522/.655 in 15 games with two more homers. He also drew more walks (9) than he struck out (6).
Morissette also took the reins as the Eagles full-time third baseman.
The accolades kept pouring in as he was named a Collegiate Baseball News First Team All-American.
Morissette, determined to improve and set himself apart from the competition, joined on as a member of the North Shore Navigators of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League. Without a Cape Cod League, guys needed to get in their at-bats where possible.
It was much of the same. A .340/.480/.511 slash while walking 21.8% of the time. Once again, his walk totals surpassed his strikeouts.
But something even more meaningful took place this summer playing for North Shore. Morissette changed his swing. He added loft in an effort to impact the baseball with greater authority. Six home runs in almost 400 college plate appearances is fine, but clearly Morissette thought there was more in the tank; both in terms of offensive impact and draft potential. We’ll get to the swing changes here momentarily.
Morissette has a well-proportioned body with strength apparent in his shoulders and hips. Most of his physical maturity is complete as I wouldn’t expect much more in terms of bulk weight to be added. He’s already a pretty good athlete with some explosiveness in his hips.
Now, the player.
Tools (Future Value)
Hit: 60
Frankly, I think Morissette is one of the better hitters in this entire class. He’s shown a fantastic ability to drive the ball to all fields and is extremely selective at the plate. His career 13.1 K% and accompanying 8.8 BB% are both very impressive.
A polished lefty hitter, Morissette employs a slightly open stance with lower hands and a little bat waggle. It’s a slightly hunched-over setup as he keeps his shoulders square to the pitcher throughout. His timing mechanism is consistent and he seemingly always gets his foot down on time. He finishes high, rotating around his back leg and hip. There’s just not a lot of moving parts in Morissette’s operation, and that will appeal to big league scouts.
He does a really nice job keeping his hands locked inside and dragging the barrel through the zone for a really lengthy period. He’s got electric, whippy hands and strong wrists that help to manipulate the head of the bat depending on the pitch and its location.
For my money, Morissette has some of the best bat-to-ball skills in this class. He doesn’t sellout for his pull-side and seems to still get to pitches he’s fooled on. It’s cliché, but Morissette finds a lot of good wood on pitches and drives the ball into gaps with authority. He does a good job covering the entire zone and going with pitches into the left-field corner. He manipulates his hip posture to get the bat head to different quadrants in the strike zone, creating solid impact and driving the ball all over the diamond. I really like his ability to cover everything.
I think there’s a .285+ hitter here with other tools that should allow him to impact the game in other ways too.
Power: 45
Given his frame, Morissette probably won’t ever be the most physical ballplayer on the field, but what he lacks in mass, he makes up for in a sound approach and discipline.
Morissette averaged 91.5mph on his exit velos in 2020. That puts him in the 80th percentile of all hitters who put a ball in play on TrackMan devices in 2020. Pretty impressive for a guy who’s outweighed by most of the country.
Morissette is the type of hitter who picks his spots. He’s got his hitter-approach and he’s got his “A-Swing” approach. When he gets ahead in counts, he’ll let it eat. If a breaking ball is hung in his go-zone, he’ll happily switch into launch mode. There’s already a bit of natural loft in his swing on pitches below the belt, and those have been the ones he’s shown an affinity toward lifting and parking in the seats.
Morissette’s future power production will more than likely derive from comfortability, intelligence and understanding of how he’s being pitched at the next level. He’s never going to be a hulking slugger, but with his patience at the plate and his ability to manipulate an at-bat into a count of his liking, there may be some turn-and-burn bombs in his pro career. I won’t forecast him necessarily ever crossing the 20-homer threshold, but I do think several double-digit dinger campaigns could be in his future.
Field: 50
This may be the biggest question of the report. Where does Morissette play? Well, from this chair, he’s a second baseman.
Morissette has a career .949 fielding percentage at second base and just .871 at third base. Now, those figures probably speak for themselves, but to be fair to Morissette, let’s also consider third basemen generally run an average fielding percentage 40 to 50 points lower than second basemen.
Morissette has soft hands and twitchy actions on the dirt that allow him to rover around the infield. He’s clearly got a good feel for getting around ground balls and his footwork is pretty polished. He battles a little bit with balls hit to his right, struggling to gather his momentum and shift his weight back toward the first base bag. That inhibits the arm strength a bit.
The biggest hurdle Morissette has in sticking on the left side of the infield during his pro career will be that arm.
Arm: 50/55
Morissette has an average arm from that left side of the infield that can handle most of the routine plays. At third base, going to his right into the line, setting and throwing across the diamond has been a weak point in my film study on Morissette. The arm strength concerns lead to throws that are occasionally off line. At second base, Morissette is more than equipped to handle the role. He turns a quick, strong double play and has shown the ability to go deep into the hole to his left and make throws from shallow right field.
I think he’s best suited to play second base at the next level, though his skillset and versatility could certainly be utilized at third base now and again, as well as in left field should an organization choose to play his profile in that way.
Run: 55
Morissette is definitely an asset with his legs right now, and that figures to remain as his body ages. He’s quick out of the box and has long, choppy strides as he gets to speed.
11 career stolen bases is a modest total for a guy at the top of the lineup, but I do think he’s capable of providing more value on the base paths, given the opportunity.
Morissette’s range plays well at second base as it allows him lateral explosiveness deep into the hole.
More than anything, I do think Morissette will add value on the field and can be a tool for his manager.
Final Thoughts
I really think there is a ton of Ben Zobrist in Cody Morissette. From the swing, the natural loft, the all-fields approach, the plate discipline, even the versatility to roam around the field, he can impact the game in a number of ways.
The concerns on the profile will be whether or not you’re comfortable and confident the bat is going to impact the baseball enough to warrant a big league regular role. I think he has that upside, and his versatility should buoy that as well.
Morissette really began hitting the ball a lot harder in 2020, as well as lifting the ball. If he continues that trend and hits eight or nine home runs in 2021, he just might play himself into the middle of the first round.
The Seattle Mariners are in need of middle infielders and Morissette is a nice blend of ceiling and floor. Hopefully the risk on his profile lessens as we approach the draft and he answers the questions we have on him for us. He’s a pure hitter and any reason to get one of those players (especially up the middle) into your system is a good one.