| Michael Morse | |
|---|---|
| Washington Nationals – No. 38 | |
| Outfielder/First baseman | |
| Born: March 22, 1982 Fort Lauderdale, Florida |
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| Bats: Right | Throws: Right |
| MLB debut | |
| May 31, 2005 for the Seattle Mariners | |
| Career statistics (through 2011 season) |
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| Batting average | .296 |
| Home runs | 52 |
| Runs batted in | 183 |
| Teams | |
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Michael John Morse (born March 22, 1982 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida) is a Major League Baseball left fielder and first baseman for the Washington Nationals.
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Morse attended Nova High School in Davie, Florida.
Morse was selected by the Chicago White Sox in the third round (82nd overall) of the 2000 Major League Baseball Draft.
Morse was acquired by the Mariners along with Miguel Olivo and Jeremy Reed for Freddy Garcia and Ben Davis on June 27, 2004. Beginning the 2005 season with the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers, he made his major league debut on May 31, 2005. Although Morse made it to the big leagues as a shortstop, with the arrival of Yuniesky Betancourt, Morse began to develop as a utility player, having spent time at first base and left field. In 2005, he was suspended for 10 days for using performance enhancing drugs.[1]
On July 6, 2006, Morse had surgery to repair a torn medial meniscus of his right knee. In 2008, Morse had the best batting average in the major leagues in spring training, batting .492. After playing only 5 games in 2008, Morse suffered a torn labrum diving for a ball against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim; he had surgery to repair it and missed the rest of the season.[2]
On April 1, 2009, Morse cleared waivers and was sent outright to the Mariners' AAA club, Tacoma.[3] In June 2009, he was traded to the Washington Nationals for outfielder Ryan Langerhans.[4] Morse was promoted to the majors by the Nats on August 21, 2009, after hitting .322 with 16 homers and 86 RBI in 110 minor league games.[5][6]
In 2010 with the Nationals, Morse batted .289 with a .352 on-base percentage and a .519 slugging percentage, hitting 15 home runs and 41 RBIs over 98 games.[5]
Morse followed his 2010 season with in 2011 spring training with a Grapefruit League-leading nine home runs with 18 RBI. He started the 2011 regular season in a left field platoon with Laynce Nix, but slumped on offense and was relegated mostly to pinch hitting by May.[7] However, On May 22, 2011, Morse moved to first base when Adam LaRoche's season was ended by injury. In his first four games at first base, Morse hit three home runs with eight RBI. From May 22 to July 5, Morse had 13 home runs and 35 RBI, the most in the majors in that span of time,[8] earning him consideration with four others for the National League's final roster spot in the 2011 All-Star Game.[9] Morse was named to Sports Illustrated's "All-Underrated Team".[7]
Morse finished the 2011 season with a .303 average, 31 home runs, and 95 RBI;[10] he was in the top 10 in the National League in all three categories.[11] He was fourth in the league in slugging percentage (.550), behind Ryan Braun, Matt Kemp, and Prince Fielder.[12]
Morse has family in Dover, New Hampshire. He has five brothers and sisters: Jamie, Kim, Shannon, Jon, and Chris Morse. Morse is engaged.
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