When the Rays acquired Christopher Morel last July, he quickly made his presence known as he homered in his first two games with Tampa Bay. However, his offensive output evaporated following those games as he hit .188/.254/.255 over his final 181 plate appearances with just one HR.
The Rays brass chalked it up to Morel needing to adjust to the American League and his new team. Thus far in 2025, Morel has shown signs of being the offensive force the Rays envisioned he’d be when they landed him from the Cubs and never more so than this past series with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Morel only played in two of the three games, but he collected four hits (two doubles and two HR) over 10 trips to the plate. On Wednesday, his 2nd inning home run tied the game and a leadoff double in the 8th set the stage for the Rays to tie the game once again.
Then on Thursday, Morel laced a double in a crucial situation that shortened the Diamondbacks lead to just one run. Later on in the 10th inning, Morel clobbered a two-run HR that gave the Rays a 3-run lead and paved the way to eventual victory.
DRAYSBAY PLAYER OF THE SERIES
1st: Kameron Misner
2nd: Jake Mangum
3rd: Brandon Lowe
4th: Jose Caballero
5th: Joe Boyle
6th: Shane Baz
7th: Chandler Simpson
8th: Christopher Morel
Morel is just 25-years old but is already entering his fourth season in the big leagues. He was an above-average hitter over his first two seasons with teh Cubs (116 wRC+ | 42 HR), but struggled with Chicago throughout the first half and struggled even more with the Rays in the second half. Thus far in 2025, Morel is hitting .268/.333/.465 with 3 HR, registering a 136 wRC+ and 0.4 fWAR over 23 games.
The Rays will begin their next series, a three-game set, against the San Diego Padres on Friday.
Who do you think will be our next Player of the Series?
.webp?ssl=1 "Funniest moment, best radio message and much more – F1’s 2025 alternative awards")
