Christopher Morel

Christopher Morel

26-Year-Old Second Baseman2B
Tampa Bay Rays
2025 Fantasy Outlook
Tampa Bay has long been infatuated with players who hit the ball hard, feeling they can perhaps coach them through their other flaws. Morel is the latest, if not most extreme of that archetype after they acquired him in the Isaac Paredes deal from the Cubs at the July deadline. Morel is a known-known in that he has plenty of power but struggles to make contact while struggling even more so in the field where he has yet to find a permanent defensive home. Morel's numbers plummeted after the deal with just three homers in 190 plate appearances, two of which came in his first week with the Rays. Morel's strikeout rate improved by five full percentage points while his walk rate also improved, yet those are the only positives to take away from what can only be viewed as a step back in his third full season. Many stars take the step forward in their third full year, so perhaps Morel can do so now in his first full season with Tampa Bay. The dual eligibility of second and third base is a nice added bonus for this high risk/high reward pick. Read Past Outlooks
RANKS
Rest of Season From Preseason
#254
ADP
$Signed a one-year contract with the Rays in March of 2025.
Thriving in short-side platoon
2BTampa Bay Rays
June 18, 2025
Morel went 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI and a run scored in Wednesday's 12-8 win over Baltimore.
ANALYSIS
Although the righty-hitting Morel has fallen into a short-side platoon with the switch-hitting Jake Mangum in left field, the former has been highly effective in this role of late. Morel has just 39 plate appearances over his last 15 outings, but he's slashing .297/.333/.595 with two home runs, five doubles, six RBI and seven runs scored during this period. Morel has a .772 OPS versus righties as opposed to a .597 OPS against lefties, so perhaps manager Kevin Cash will consider finding ways to get Morel's bat into the lineup more often if he stays hot.
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Batting Stats
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2025
2024
2023
2022
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Batting Order Slot Breakdown
vs Right-Handed Pitchers
vs RHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
14
3
2
3
vs Left-Handed Pitchers
vs LHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
4
2
8
4
1
1
1
Left/Right Batting Splits
Since 2023
 
 
+6%
OPS vs RHP
2025
 
 
+31%
OPS vs RHP
2024
 
 
+18%
OPS vs RHP
2023
 
 
+12%
OPS vs LHP
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2023vs Left .679 302 36 13 36 2 .191 .275 .404
Since 2023vs Right .720 915 107 40 112 16 .228 .305 .415
2025vs Left .590 73 5 2 7 0 .179 .247 .343
2025vs Right .774 104 20 4 11 4 .255 .327 .447
2024vs Left .554 128 13 4 12 1 .148 .258 .296
2024vs Right .654 483 43 17 48 7 .208 .296 .358
2023vs Left .893 101 18 7 17 1 .250 .317 .576
2023vs Right .798 328 44 19 53 5 .247 .312 .486
More Splits View More Split Stats
Minor League Splits View Minor League Split Stats
Home/Away Batting Splits
Since 2023
Even Split
2025
 
 
+21%
OPS at Home
2024
 
 
+2%
OPS at Home
2023
 
 
+10%
OPS on Road
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2023Home .710 606 71 26 83 10 .220 .299 .410
Since 2023Away .710 611 72 27 65 8 .217 .296 .414
2025Home .741 118 17 4 13 3 .238 .322 .419
2025Away .612 59 8 2 5 1 .196 .237 .375
2024Home .642 283 31 9 27 4 .202 .300 .342
2024Away .627 328 25 12 33 4 .192 .277 .349
2023Home .779 205 23 13 43 3 .234 .284 .495
2023Away .859 224 39 13 27 3 .260 .339 .520
More Splits View More Split Stats
Stat Review
How does Christopher Morel compare to other hitters?
This section compares his stats with all batting seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 400 plate appearances)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity and Barrels/PA % are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 400 PA) and Hard Hit Rate is benchmarked against last season's data (min 400 PA). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
  • BB/K
    Walk to strikeout ratio
  • BB Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a walk.
  • K Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a strikeout.
  • BABIP
    Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many of a batter’s balls in play go for hits.
  • ISO
    Isolated Power. Slugging percentage minus batting average. A computation used to measure a batter's raw power.
  • AVG
    Batting average. Hits divided by at bats.
  • OBP
    On Base Percentage. A measure of how often a batters reaches base. Roughly equal to number of times on base divided by plate appearances.
  • SLG
    Slugging Percentage. A measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats.
  • OPS
    On base plus slugging. THe sum of a batter's on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
  • wOBA
    Weighted on-base average. Measures a player's overall offensive contributions per plate appearance. wOBA combines all the different aspects of hitting into one metric, weighting each of them in proportion to their actual run value.
  • Exit Velocity
    The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
  • Hard Hit Rate
    A measure of contact quality from Sports Info Solutions. This stat explains what percentage of batted balls were hit hard vs. medium or soft.
  • Barrels/PA
    The percentage of plate appearances where a batter had a batted ball classified as a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
  • Expected BA
    Expected Batting Average.
  • Expected SLG
    Expected Slugging Percentage.
  • Sprint Speed
    The speed of a runner from home to first, in feet per second.
  • Ground Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are on the ground.
  • Line Drive %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are line drives.
  • Fly Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are fly balls.
BB/K
0.23
 
BB Rate
7.9%
 
K Rate
34.5%
 
BABIP
.319
 
ISO
.180
 
AVG
.224
 
OBP
.294
 
SLG
.404
 
OPS
.698
 
wOBA
.308
 
Exit Velocity
91.4 mph
 
Hard Hit Rate
39.0%
 
Barrels/PA
8.5%
 
Expected BA
.217
 
Expected SLG
.446
 
Sprint Speed
23.2 ft/sec
 
Ground Ball %
37.4%
 
Line Drive %
11.1%
 
Fly Ball %
51.5%
 
Prospect Rankings History
Advanced Batting Stats
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Additional Stats
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Defensive Stats
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Batted Ball Stats
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Stats Vs Upcoming Pitchers
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Past Fantasy Outlooks
2024
2023
Morel had a solid rookie campaign in 2022 with 16 homers and a .741 OPS in 113 games, but he spent the first month-plus of 2023 in the minors. He caught fire immediately upon being promoted by the Cubs and clubbed nine long balls with a 1.354 OPS while collecting hits in each of his first 13 contests. Morel finished the campaign with a .247/.313/.508 slash line, 26 home runs, 70 RBI and 62 runs despite playing in just 107 games. His strikeout rate improved but was still high at 31.0 percent, and his poor defense led to him seeing most of his time at designated hitter. He played six different positions, but second base was his only spot with more than five appearances besides the outfield, limiting his positional eligibility, and he remains without a clear home in the field. Morel made plenty of hard contact with a 50.0 percent hard-hit rate and 15.5 percent barrel, but the strikeouts make him a bit of a volatile fantasy option, especially since he's yet to put together a full season.
The Cubs called Morel up straight from the Double-A level in mid-May. Initially it looked like he might be an NL Rookie of the Year candidate as Morel slashed .273/.343/.503 with nine home runs and seven stolen bases in his first 47 big-league games. Now more than ever, the book is already out on a player by the time they get to the majors, but that may not have been the case with Morel given he skipped the highest level of the minors. The league eventually caught up and in the end Morel struck out in nearly one-third of his plate appearances. Rafael Ortega was non-tendered in the offseason, leaving Morel tentatively atop the depth chart in center field although he will likely jump around the field as he did last season. Morel is 2B and OF eligible in leagues with a 20-game minimum for eligibility and adds third base and shortstop in leagues with a 10-game minimum.
More Fantasy News
Posts huge game Saturday
2BTampa Bay Rays
June 8, 2025
Morel went 3-for-3 with a two home runs, a double, four RBI and an additional run in Saturday's 11-10 extra-inning loss to the Marlins.
ANALYSIS
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Stuck in short side of platoon
2BTampa Bay Rays
May 11, 2025
Morel is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Brewers, Ryan Bass of FanDuel Sports Network Sun reports.
ANALYSIS
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Exiting starting nine
2BTampa Bay Rays
May 4, 2025
Morel is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Yankees, Ryan Bass of FanDuel Sports Network Sun reports.
ANALYSIS
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Day off Thursday
2BTampa Bay Rays
May 1, 2025
Morel is not in the lineup for Thursday's game against the Royals, Ryan Bass of FanDuel Sports Network Sun reports.
ANALYSIS
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Homers in back-to-back games
2BTampa Bay Rays
April 24, 2025
Morel went 2-for-5 with a two-run home run, a double and an additional RBI in Thursday's extra-inning win over the Diamondbacks.
ANALYSIS
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Latest Fantasy Rumors
Leash running out at third base
2BChicago Cubs
June 7, 2024
Cubs manager Craig Counsell indicated Thursday the team is considering other defensive options at third base as Morel already has two errors in June, reports Patrick Mooney of The Athletic.
ANALYSIS
Morel's defense has never been a strength, but Chicago opted to give him the reins at third base to begin 2024. Things haven't exactly been pretty, as he has minus-eight DRS and minus-11 OAA in 384 innings at the hot corner. To make matters worse, the 24-year-old is batting just .205 with a .400 SLG, though he's clubbed 12 homers and has a 13 percent walk rate. Morel's lineup spot likely isn't in jeopardy, and he's been a bit unlucky at the plate with a .265 xBA and .509 xSLG. The Cubs don't have a clear replacement at third base though, which could buy Morel more time at the position.
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