Prior to last night’s game, the Nationals announced Adam LaRoche was done for the season with a torn labrum. He served time in the disabled list for the last few weeks.
This news was met with indifference. LaRoche wasn’t playing well in the first two months of the season. Along with Jayson Werth, he has been an automatic out when he was batting at the plate.
Mike Morse did a great job of filling in for LaRoche by providing offense. It got to the point where Nationals manager Jim Riggleman had to make a tough decision if the everyday starter was activated from the disabled list.
Would Riggleman reward Morse’s work by playing him over LaRoche? If he played the reserve, how was the manager going to handle his everyday player? It won’t be his problem anymore after Mike Rizzo’s announcement last night.
Morse will be the everyday player for the rest of the year, and he earned it at first base with the way he has played all season. He and Danny Espinosa provide the bulk of the team’s offense.
In last night’s Nationals’ 10-0 victory over the Cardinals, Morse homered twice, and he hit his 11th double of the season. He leads the team in batting average (.312), RBIs (40), HRs (12), on-base percentage (.345)
With the numbers Morse is producing, the Nationals don’t miss LaRoche’s poor performance.
During a course of the season, teams receive performance from a player that they don’t expect. There’s always an overachiever, and the Nationals found one in Morse.
No one knew he would be hitting the ball at a torrid pace. The Nationals figure he would give a good performance for two or three days a week. In other words, they looked at him as a utility player.
Who can blame the Nationals for feeling that way? Morse bounced around from the White Sox to the Mariners prior to coming to the Nationals. He never hit for power, and quite frankly, he was not hitting period.
Teams liked him more for his ability to pinch-run. They looked at him as a sparkplug. That’s what Morse basically was doing with the Nationals.
Everything clicked for Morse this season. He hits the ball with authority. He has been taking proper at-bats. He seems to know what the pitcher is going to throw, and he hits it.
Now, the game has come easy for him. He has been tough to get out. He loves to go up against the team’s aces.
Morse also has done a good job with his glove. He makes plays at first, and he finds a way to hold on to Ian Desmond’s high throws.
It’s been a nice story all around for him. He perseveres all these years to be the player he is today. He could have given up when he was struggling, but he kept working, and now it has paid off.
There’s a lesson to be learned here. A player can always develop his skills with hard work. It would be nice to have a natural talent, but it doesn’t mean a player is a lost cause. Morse proved to be the case.
If he keeps playing at a high level, he could be the Nationals’ MVP. One can make a case that he is now.
The Nationals are fortunate that he stepped up as a hitter. They haven’t gotten consistency from the rest of their hitters. Wilson Ramos, Ian Desmond and Espinosa have done well, but they have sputtered on offense at times. Werth hasn’t given anything on offense.
One wonders where the Nationals would be without Morse. He played a role in winning games for the team this year. He always found a way to get key hits in a tight game whether it’s a tie game or a one-run game.
When Riggleman campaigns for his players to be on the All-Star team, there’s no question he will be talking about Morse. He knows what this player has meant to the team.
It’s going to be tough for Morse to quality for the roster, though. There are players at first base that are having good seasons in Joey Votto and Prince Fielder. Albert Pujols will be voted in by the fans.
Plus, managers pick players in the All-Star Game based on their body of work over the years. This is the first time Morse has been an impact hitter this season, so he has to sustain this performance for the next few years.
Morse should be in the All-Star Game for what he meant to the team. NL All-Star manager Bruce Bochy should find a way to make it work. It would be a good story to reward a guy that finally figured it out.
Odds are it will not happen, but don’t expect Morse to be down about it. He will continue to improve as a player, and he will keep doing his best to help the Nationals win games.
Morse is happy to be playing in the majors, and getting a chance to be an everyday player. He is not going to feel entitled about making the All-Star Game.
He knows everything has to be earned, and he is not going to lose those roots and start taking a step backward. He worked too hard now to go there.
It’s been quite a journey for Morse, and he is enjoying the ride. He should use the All-Star Break to appreciate what he accomplished in the first half of the season, and there’s no question he will.
There’s going to be more where it came from in the next few months.