You couldn’t have asked for a much better first week as a professional third baseman than Yohandy Morales just had for the Fredericksburg Nationals.
Morales was Washington’s first pick of the second round (40th overall) in the Major League Baseball draft out of the University of Miami, and the 6-foot-4, 225-pounder has not disappointed.
In his first week at the pro level, Morales went 7-for-22 (.318) in his first six games at the plate with 3 doubles, a triple and 6 RBI. To top it all off, he scored the game-clinching run in Sunday’s series finale against Salem, as the Freddies took five out of six and are back in the playoff hunt.
“It’s been an amazing week,” Morales said after Sunday’s game. “These guys have opened up to us like a family. We came in here with open arms and they’ve treated us all well. We’ve been bonding this past week and we just want to get things going and keep the momentum that we have right now. I’ve been doing good on defense and offensively, but obviously the most important part is that we’re winning games. So that’s what matters.”
On Sunday, Morales stepped to the plate in a 5-5 game to lead off the bottom of the ninth, after the Red Sox rallied from a three-run deficit to knot it up in the top-half of the frame.
“I was just trying to go up there and try to hit a walk-off home run,” Morales said of his mindset. “My approach was just to end the game right there in one swing, but obviously at the beginning of that at-bat I tried to do so much. So obviously regrouped after that timeout, got the pitch that I wanted and got on base, because I know the guys behind me have the ability to drive me in, and they did just that.”
Morales doubled to right to kick things off before clean-up man Andrew Pinckney reached on an error. Two batters later, another former Hurricane, Maxwell Romero Jr., sent everyone home happy with a three-run, walk-off blast, sparking an on-field celebration that included some Gatorade being splashed around the infield.
“I feel like I’ve known everybody for a long time coming in here,” said Morales. “We have all bonded well, especially the whole draft class, we’ve been bonding really well since before we came up here. It’s an amazing place to be right now. We’re having fun, we’re playing baseball and we’re winning games.”
One of Morales’ “new” teammates with the FredNats is Golden Spikes Award winner and College World Series champion outfielder Dylan Crews, who was taken with the second overall pick in the draft.
Morales, who is affectionately referred to by his nickname, YoYo, and Crews both grew up in Florida and have shared a dugout before, when the two were still in high school.
“I’ve known Dylan since we were younger, we were like 12, 13, 14. So I’ve grown up playing with him — on the same team actually and against him — so I’ve known Dylan for a while.”
Added Crews: “Yeah, me and YoYo played together in high-school travel ball — the MVP Banditos — growing up. So we knew each other, we knew what we were getting out of each other. So yeah, it was good. He’s doing really well. I’m really happy for him, man. I just know he’s such a great hitter, great player, great person, so I’m happy to be teammates with that kid.”
Morales knows what Crews is capable of with his bat, and believes the organization got “two of the best hitters in the class.” He’s excited about the future and playing alongside his old friend again, along with the other Nats draft picks who are on the current Fredericksburg roster. He’s also been impressed with Virginia Credit Union Stadium and the energy and enthusiasm that the Freddies fans have shown.
“I mean, it’s super nice,” Morales said of the Fredericksburg ballpark. “Basically almost looks like a big-league field out here. It’s amazing. All the fans showing up, it makes it a big environment. So it’s good to see all these fans come to support us as well, so it’s a good thing, I like the environment I’m in right now and just gonna keep going forward.”
Morales — whose father, Andy, was a member of the Cuban National Team and played for both the Yankees and Red Sox organizations — was part of a wild, extra-inning loss in Saturday’s game against Salem, one in which his team trailed by seven runs going into the ninth inning. The FredNats eventually tied it up on an Armando Cruz grand slam to send it to extras, but the Sox answered with a slam of their own (the third of the contest) to win, 11-7.
“I mean, it’s baseball, you know? Things happen,” Morales said. “We were down 7-0 in the beginning of the game but we battled back, we never gave up, everybody was up in the dugout the whole time. We let that next inning get away from us, but we played an all-around great game. We came out here [Sunday] and did what we did and we got the win, we had a walk-off win so just trying to keep this momentum going.”
Fredericksburg enters the week just 5.5 games back of first place, and the team is hoping to stay hot over the next five weeks and make a postseason run with Morales, Crews, Pinckney and the other recent draft picks leading the charge.
In his junior year at Miami this past season, Morales led the team in just about every offensive category, including batting average (.408), OPS (1.187), hits (98), home runs (20) and RBI (70). He was a Golden Spikes semifinalist and an All-ACC first-team selection, as well as a second-team All-American by Perfect Game and a third-team choice by ABCA/Rawlings.
In terms of getting to the majors, Morales said he’s absolutely in no rush whatsoever. He’s just happy to have his foot in the door and knows there are a few other talented third basemen like Brady House and Trey Lipscomb ahead of him in the Nats farm system. His plan for now is just to improve, learn and stay healthy, and believes that he’ll be prepared whenever his time comes.
“I’m just enjoying my moment,” said Morales. “Whatever happens, happens. Obviously I’m trying to get there as fast as possible to help out the Nationals, but just taking it all in. I’m here to play baseball and whatever happens, happens. So just trying to keep moving forward, doing my best, trying hard every single game and trying to show off for the team and get some wins. So that’s my goal right now.
“You obviously never know what could happen, there’s a lot of great third basemen on this team, young guys that have been here. So I feel like I’ve got to earn my spot. I’ve got to keep moving forward. I’m new to this. I just got here. I’m still a rookie here, but I’ve got to work my way up and just keep doing my best, play the baseball I’ve been playing my whole life.”
Share
