20-year-old Luis Morales was only with us for two starts before the season concluded, but he made a serious impression.#GoNuts 🔩 | #Athletics | @MLBPipeline pic.twitter.com/UXz35P99et
— Lansing Lugnuts (@LansingLugnuts) September 13, 2023
Signed in January 2023, Luis Morales quickly made an impression in the Athletics' system. He moved through four levels, finishing the year at High-A Lansing.
Morales compiled a 2.86 ERA across 44 innings with a strikeout rate just below 30%. He has a fastball that sits in the upper 90's with a wipeout slider and curveball combo that he uses to get whiffs. He's a little wild but not concerningly so.
Baseball America has Morales as the Athletics' fourth best prospect heading into 2024. Their biggest knock against him is that the curveball and slider sometimes blend into similar looking pitches, and that he needs to differentiate them more in order to have success as a starter.
Morales didn't earn a non-roster spring training invite. His lack of innings at the professional level is likely the biggest reason why, as the A's will look to further refine his pitches at lower levels before introducing him to more advanced hitters.
However, if Morales is able to dial in the breaking pitches, he could become a monster. He forced the A's to move him quickly through the system last year and it's certainly possible he does so again in 2024.