Yohandy Morales keeps hitting in return

Morales missed two games over the weekend with an injury before landing on the injured list on Tuesday. As of now, no specific injury has been listed for Morales, so it’s hard to say how long he will be out. The 24-year-old seemed to be on the verge of a promotion after hitting .294 with 21 home runs and 62 RBIs while posting a .908 OPS in 83 games at Triple-A this season.

Morales is now up to 13 home runs and 36 RBI on the season to go along with a .344 batting average and a 1.016 OPS. He’s ready for a chance at big league pitching, but with Curtis Mead playing well at third base, the Nationals will need to use Morales as a DH or a first baseman.

We know Andres Chaparro got the call to replace Brady House on the active roster, but it’s only a matter of time before Morales is up to challenge for that spot. The 40th overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft is hitting .358/.440/.616 with 10 home runs, 27 RBI, and two steals in 175 plate appearances in Triple-A this season. There is little left for him to prove at this level.

The 24-year-old is now hitting .348/.435/.598 with nine home runs and 25 RBI in 39 Triple-A games. The power is intriguing, and a clear improvement from his 15 home runs in 128 games last year. He does have a 13 percent swinging strike rate and 72.6 percent contact rate overall; however, both of those were improvements on what he did last year. The bigger news is that Morales has been playing more first base lately, and the Nationals don’t have a clear first baseman at the MLB level. We could be on promotion watch.

The 24-year-old Morales is hitting .325/.421/.528 with seven home runs and 20 RBI in 37 games at Triple-A. Morales was a second-round pick back in the 2023 MLB Draft and is a .290 career hitter in 1,067 minor league at-bats. He’s blocked at third base by Brady House right now, but he has started some games at first base and could also DH if the Nationals decided to give him a call.

It’s a over-slot deal for Morales, who lands a $2.6 million signing bonus, which is close to $500,000 above slot value for the 40th overall pick. The 21-year-old corner outfielder offers a ton of over-the-fence power and launched 20 homers over 61 games this spring for Miami in his final collegiate season.

Morales has a power-over-hit profile, which might be enough to carry him to the majors someday. He smacked 20 homers in his junior year at Miami, while slashing an eye-popping .408/.475/.713 across 61 games for the Hurricanes. However, with the good comes the bad. He takes huge swings, which can get him in trouble with strikeouts. He chases out of the zone regularly, and will need a strong player development staff to help him change his game. While Morales truly has a power over hit profile, he has improved his swing during his time at Miami, which should bring future success in professional ball.