Kendrys Morales

Kendrys Morales
Free agent
First baseman / Designated hitter
Born: (1983-06-20) June 20, 1983 Fomento, Cuba
Bats: Switch	Throws: Right
MLB debut
May 23, 2006 for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Career statistics (through 2013 season)
Batting average	.280
Home runs	102
Runs batted in	345
Teams
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (2006–2010, 2012) Seattle Mariners (2013)
Career highlights and awards
AL Player of the Month (August 2009)

Kendrys Morales

Medal record
Men’s Baseball
Competitor for  Cuba
Pan American Games
Gold	2003 Santo Domingo	Team
Baseball World Cup
Gold	2003 Havana	Team
Intercontinental Cup
Gold	2002 Havana	Team

Kendrys Morales Rodriguez (born June 20, 1983) is a Cuban professional baseball first baseman who is a free agent. He is a switch hitter who throws right-handed. Morales suffered an ankle injury on May 29, 2010, during a celebration of his walk-off grand slam, which kept him out of the Major League for nearly two years. On April 6, 2012, Morales returned to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim's line-up for the season opener against the Kansas City Royals.

Cuban career

Morales played in Cuba's equivalent of the United States' Triple-A level. With 16- to 17-year-olds in the category, he was the first starter of the pitching staff, and fourth in the batting order, and had the ability to hit home runs from both sides of the plate.

Morales joined the Cuban national baseball team in 2002 and immediately became a star player—despite being the first teenager to make the team in nearly twenty years. He was the cleanup hitter on the team during its dramatic 2003 World Cup championship. His grand slam in the final round against Taiwan secured a 6–3 Cuban victory, one game after hitting a home run that provided the winning runs against Brazil.

In his first—of two and a half—full season with Havana's Industriales, in 2002, Morales had a batting average of .324 with 21 home runs and 82 RBI, and pitched in a game during the regular season, setting seven rookie records in the process (including HR and RBI); and obviously becoming Rookie of the Year, being considered the best rookie history of Cuban baseball. In his second season he suffered an injury and did not hit as many home runs as in his rookie season, but he finished with a .391 batting average.

Morales' stardom in Cuba was short-lived, however. He was sent back to Cuba from Panama during the Olympic qualifying round in November 2003 for making contact with an agent. It was the last time he would suit up as a Cuban.

Coming to the United States

By early 2004, Cuba's national team and the Industriales banned Morales from their teams for disciplinary reasons due to their belief that he had met with people in an attempt to flee the nation. Morales denies this accusation, telling a reporter "That's not true. I never talked to any agent. But from that moment on, I just wanted to leave. I tried to do it several times without success, occasionally ending up in jail." He escaped on a raft in June 2004 to the shores of southern Florida, his 8th attempt at escape.^[1]

But, as is the usual practice of defectors, he chose to leave the country to establish foreign residency so as to avoid the MLB draft. He left once again, this time to the Dominican Republic, where he was privately scouted by several Major League teams. Preston Gómez, in his role as consultant to Angels general manager Bill Stoneman, ended up signing him to a six-year deal with three-million dollars up front in December 2004. Morales played winter ball for the Estrellas Orientales Dominican team to keep himself in game shape.^[2]

Minor league career

By the spring of 2005, the Angels hoped to have Morales practice in the Cactus League to get ready for a quick ascension through their farm system or possibly even make the team as the designated hitter. Because he was not yet a citizen, the Dominican government held up granting Morales the necessary passport to fly back to the U.S. for several months. He was not able to get all his paperwork in order until late May and he finally made his minor league debut on May 21 for the Single-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes.

To help his new club scout his ability against U.S. pitching, Morales began his minor league career with nearby Rancho Cucamonga. After three weeks of easy hitting (his batting average was .344, with 5 home runs), he was moved up to Double-A Arkansas, where he was second on the team in home runs despite playing there for only half the season. When that season ended, he was chosen by the Angels to play fall ball for the Surprise Scorpions.

Major league career

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (2008-2012)

Morales had a strong spring training in 2006 for the Angels, but failed to make the 25-man roster. He ultimately made his Major League debut on May 23, 2006, playing first base and going 3-for-5, including a home run in his second at bat, versus the Texas Rangers. Thereafter he performed well enough to be the Angels regular first baseman until his eventual demotion back to Triple-A on July 23, 2006.

Morales during his tenure with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in 2012

2009 season

Morales enjoyed a breakout year in his first full-season. He hit 34 home runs and slugged .569, ranking second only to AL MVP Joe Mauer in the AL.

Morales was promoted to starting first basemen after Mark Teixeira (Angels first baseman for the 2008 season) left the Angels as a free agent in the winter of 2008. Morales said of the timing of his promotion, "The guys that played ahead of me were seasoned players, and I didn't deserve to play in the big leagues yet. The one thing I thought about -- not how long I had to wait -- was just to concentrate on playing well once that opportunity came."^[3]

He hit well in the first half, and hit extremely well in the second half of 2009, and was named AL Player of the Month in August when he drove in 33 runs in 28 games with 10 homers, batting .385 and slugging .734. His performance led to talk of him being a possible American League MVP,^[4] eventually placing 5th in MVP voting behind Joe Mauer, Teixeira, Derek Jeter, and Miguel Cabrera.^[5]

2010 season

Morales hit a walk-off grand slam off Brandon League to end a 10-inning 5–1 victory over the Seattle Mariners at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on May 29, 2010. Approaching his celebrating teammates, he jumped up with the intention of stomping on home plate instead of simply stepping on it. His awkward landing resulted in a fracture in his lower left leg, placing him immediately on the disabled list. The injury required surgery, and he missed the rest of the 2010 season.^[6] In 51 games in the 2010 season, Morales hit .290 with 11 home runs and 39 RBIs.

2011 season

On May 11, 2011, it was announced that Morales, still sidelined by his injured ankle from 2010, would miss the whole 2011 season due to complications in his rehabilitation from surgery on the ankle.^[7]

2012 season

On March 22, 2012, nearly two years after his ankle injury, Morales returned to the lineup in a spring training game against the Kansas City Royals.^[8] He went 2-3 in his Spring Training return. On April 16, he hit his first home run since his 2010 injury.

On July 30, 2012, Morales hit two home runs in the same inning (once left handed and the other right handed). He became only the third player in MLB history to homer both left and right in the same inning.^[9] He finished the 2012 season with a .273 batting average, 22 home runs, and 73 RBI.

Seattle Mariners (2013)

Seattle Mariners designated hitter Kendrys Morales hits against the Oakland Athletics.

On December 19, 2012, Morales was traded by the Angels to the Seattle Mariners for pitcher Jason Vargas.^[10]

On June 23, 2013, Morales hit a first-pitch three run home run in the 10th inning against the Oakland Athletics after subbing for Brendan Ryan, leading to a 6-3 Mariners win at Safeco Field. After rounding the bases, he gently stepped on home plate.^[11] On July 2, 2013, he hit two home runs and had 6 RBIs in a 9-2 win over the division-leading Texas Rangers. On August 26, 2013, Kendrys Morales was claimed off waivers by an as yet unknown team; however, he was not traded within 48 hours of the waiver claim, meaning the Mariners pulled him back from waivers.

On September 5, Morales hit a walk-off two-run homer off the Kansas City Royals to win the game 6-4 in the ninth inning. It was the only game the Mariners won during the four-game series. But later, the Mariners win a three-game series against them.

Personal life

Morales has a wife, Yarley, with whom he has two kids: Hanely and Kendrys Jr. He also has a younger brother Daniel who plays ball at ISU. Until March 2011, MLB mistakenly spelled Morales' first name "Kendry."

See also

• List of baseball players who defected from Cuba

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kendrys Morales.

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• Minor League Splits and Situational Stats
• Cuban Baseball Career statistics