How the Chicago Cubs fixed Christopher Morel's swing

In the midst of Christopher Morel’s stint with the Chicago Cubs last season, a problem emerged.

Morel had an instant impact in the big leagues, but suddenly he was having issues at the plate. His strikeout rate skyrocketed and his production dipped as he saw a steady serving of off-speed pitches.

The Cubs discovered why it was such a problem.

“His first move was to lay his barrel back or dump the ball,” said Iowa Cubs manager Marty Pevey.

Fixing that issue has allowed Morel to flourish after being sent back to the minor leagues to begin this season. It’s a big reason why the 23-year-old versatile young star has turned into one of the most productive players in all of Minor League Baseball.

“He’s really improved,” Pevey said. “He’s had a swing mechanic flaw that he’s really worked on and it’s going to allow him not to chase spin quite as much.”

Morel provided a big boost last year when Chicago brought him to the majors straight from Double-A Tennessee in May. The youngster belted a home run in his first at-bat and continued to rake, hitting .266/.338/.477 with nine homers in the first half of the season.

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But then pitchers figured out how to attack Morel: fewer fastballs and more breaking pitches. Morel began chasing more pitches out of the strike zone. Morel hit just .194 with 63 strikeouts in 184 plate appearances in the second half of the season.

After more struggles in the spring, Morel was sent to Iowa to begin the season so he could get steady playing time and work to lower his strikeout rate and improve his walk rate. Fixing the flaw in his swing was the key.

“(The swing issue) creates distance − the longer your swing is, the less time you have to see the ball,” Pevey said. “The ball is traveling. It’s not sitting on a tee. So as soon as you create length in your swing, you’re not able to see spin as easily.”

By adjusting his mechanics, Morel can identify pitches more quickly, put a better swing on offerings or have a better shot at laying off pitches off the plate.

Morel has had the swing issue for a while. But at the big-league level, it was exposed.

“He’s had it in there in times for the last several years, but it really showed up at the latter part of last year,” Pevey said.

While it continues to be a work in progress, Morel is making strides. He entered Tuesday’s games ranked first in the International League in homers (11), runs batted in (28), OPS (1.298) and was tied for first in runs scored (27).

He also has cut down on his strikeout rate (27.8%) and has seen a jump in his walk rate to 13.9%. The Cubs still want to see the strikeouts go down. But Morel has made enough progress that he'll be a candidate for a promotion should Chicago need to fill a roster spot.

“He’s not chasing as much, which is great because that’s what it's going to take (for) him to be consistent in the big leagues,” said Iowa hitting coach John Mallee.

Tommy Birch, the Register's sports enterprise and features reporter, has been working at the newspaper since 2008. He's the 2018 and 2020 Iowa Sportswriter of the Year. Reach him at tbirch@dmreg.com or 515-284-8468. Follow him on Twitter @TommyBirch.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Christopher Morel's swing change leads to big success with Iowa Cubs