It may be time to take Nationals slugger Michael Morse seriously.
I’ve seen many players who, when given a chance to play regularly for a short period of time, produce numbers that prove to be an illusion after they are exposed on a daily basis over the course of an entire season.
I’ve seen many more of them than I have the so-called “late bloomer” — the player who finally blossoms into a legitimate major league star after a series of missteps or injuries that had defined their career.
Critics complain about the length of a 162-game season, but one thing rings true — you can’t hide if your name is in the lineup for most of those games. You will be exposed sooner or later.
Morse’s teammate, Jayson Werth, was a late bloomer, not really coming into his own until he was 28. We are seeing perhaps the ultimate late bloomer in Toronto in 30-year-old Jose Bautista, who has played for five different teams since 2004 before his coming out party with the Toronto Blue Jays last year — 54 home runs and 124 RBI.
Morse, 29, seemed like he had been exposed at the start of this season following an impressive spring training (nine home runs, .364 average). He got the starting left field job and struggled at the plate with just one home run and a .211 average in 23 games.
But after taking over for the injured Adam LaRoche at first base, the 6-foot-5, 230-pound Morse has picked up where he left off in spring training. Going into the weekend series against the Baltimore Orioles, Morse was tied for the team lead with 12 home runs and had 40 RBI and a .311 average.
In fact, you could say he picked up where he left off last season. Following the trade of Josh Willingham, Morse got more playing time and finished the season with 15 home runs, 41 RBI and a .289 batting average in 98 games.
Over the course of two seasons, Morse has 27 home runs and 81 RBI in 158 games.
Considering he was acquired from the Seattle Mariners in 2009 for journeyman outfielder Ryan Langerhans, Morse has already exceeded expectations for the Nationals.
So who is he?
Morse was born in Fort Lauderdale but grew up in New Hampshire. He was drafted in the third round of the 2000 draft by the Chicago White Sox. He was dealt to the Mariners with Miguel Olivo and Jeremy Reed for Freddy Garcia and Ben Davis in 2004.
Morse was a shortstop at the time but began playing in the majors as a utility player in 2005 and then ran into several years of bad luck — knee and shoulder surgeries — and missed significant playing time.
He is healthy now, and making the most of it.
Examiner columnist Thom Loverro is the co-host of “The Sports Fix” from noon to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday on ESPN980 and espn980.com. Contact him at [email protected].
