O's hope Morse can get his bat going, help vs. lefty pitching

By Steve Melewski

Orioles

August 30, 2013, 10:16am

Comments

The Orioles have struggled against left-handed pitching. Michael Morse has a power bat from the right side and thus today's trade makes plenty of sense. It will truly work out for the Orioles if Morse can get his recently ice-cold bat going. Morse is batting .226 this season in 76 games with Seattle. He has 13 homers and 27 RBIs, but he is batting just .158 with an OPS of .489 and two homers over 76 at-bats since the All-Star break. Over his last nine games, Morse is 3-for-32 with just one homer. The O's obviously are hoping that Morse can reverse that and maybe entering a pennant race will help jump start his bat. The O's as a team are batting .271 with an OPS of .780 vs. right-handed pitching but just .247/.698 against left-handers. Morse has a career .293 average, .495 slugging percentage and .844 OPS against southpaws. The O's gave up outfielder Xavier Avery to essentially get one month of Morse, who can be a free agent after this season. Avery was batting .237 in 81 games with Triple-A Norfolk. By acquiring him now, before the end of the month, Morse would be eligible to be on the playoff roster if the O's make it. What are your thoughts on this deal?