Logan Morrison Is Good Too

Before his unfortunate knee injury, Carlos Santana was on top of the rookie world. Through 192 plate appearances, his wOBA sat at .382 — an impressive number for a 24-year-old backstop. Logan Morrison is not a catcher. Nor is Morrison 24 (he will not be in his 24-year-old season until 2012), but through his first 176 plate appearances, he holds a .404 WOBA.

Morrison is posting that number through a strong walk rate (15.3%), a fair walk-to-strikeout ratio (0.87), some power (.176 ISO despite a 2.8% HR/FB), and an inflated BABIP (.397). He’s not as young or hyped as Jason Heyward or Starlin Castro, but prorating his WAR to date through 500 plate appearances – admittedly not a perfect science and one used purely for narrative purposes – results in a four-win season; not too shabby for someone lost in the Marlins’ season.

Oddly, Morrison is not without his own injury misadventure, making him a nice fit next to Heyward, Santana, and that injured rookie pitching phenom. Over the weekend, Morrison took a foul ball to the face – an injury that sounds painful and looked worse – but he missed almost no time because of it. Clearly there are only three explanations for this: 1) he has a face of steel; 2) he is the Terminator; 3) there is only one explanation: that being that both are true.

The only blemish on Morrison’s season to date is his defensive play, although that’s a bit harsh given the circumstances. Entering this year, he’d seen all of two games in the outfield, and he played in only 19 games in the minors before replacing the injured Chris Coghlan as the everyday left fielder. Gaby Sanchez has played well enough to keep his job, but Morrison is doing his part to ensure that both are in the lineup on a daily basis.