For a month, Logan Morrison was trappped in a nightmare.
He couldn’t hit. He couldn’t field.He couldn’t contribute to the Tampa Bay Rays.
For 29 games, Morrison was helpless. No home runs. No RBI. He was hitting .129 with 29 strikeouts in 94 at bats. His slugging percentage was .153. His on baseball percentage was .229. He kept going to the plate, and he kept walking back to the dugout. In May, he had hit only .100, and was last in the majors in hitting.
“You keep beating your head against the wall and nothing happens, it’s kind of the definition of insanity, right?” Morrison told the Tampa Bay Times. “(So) try to make an adjustment, simplify things, help me stay behind the baseball and get the barrel to it. If I can get the barrel to the ball, there’s damage. I’m not really worried about average or anything like that.”
For the last two nights, however, Morrison has contributed. On Tuesday night, he had his first two RBI of the season and his first multi-hit game. On Wednesday night, he had his first home run and his first three-hit game. In all, he had five hits on the two nights, leaving the Rays to hope that he may finally be breaking out.
“It’s one of those things where you look up and he’ll finish with 60 or 70,” manager Kevin Cash said.
That would be a help, even though Morrison has averaged 41 RBI a year for the last four. Still, his average is up to .170 after the last two nights.
“As much as people want me to hit, there’s nobody who wants me to hit more,” Morrison said. “It’s been every emotion from embarrassing to frustrating to, I don’t know, what else?”
