Christopher Morel

22 февраля 2026 г.

Looking good with glove at 1B

Morel handled a number of tough chances at first base without issue during the Marlins' Grapefruit League opener against the Mets on Saturday, Christina De Nicola of MLB.com reports.

Анализ

The 26-year-old has never played a game at first base as a professional, but after signing a one-year contract with Miami in December, Morel got to work over the winter to learn the new position. He compared the footwork necessary around the bag to learning a popular dance in his native Dominican Republic. "It's more the feet when you go to cover first base, trying to put your feet correctly," Morel said after Saturday's game. "But we're getting better. Today, we got a few ground balls, and I'm trying to dance bachata today. We need to dance bachata to be a first baseman." While getting his glovework in order is a good first step, he'll likely need to improve his offensive contributions as well to secure a full-time role at first base -- over the last two seasons between the Cubs and Rays, Morel launched 32 homers with 15 steals in 257 games but slashed just .204/.288/.363 with a 29.3 percent strikeout rate.