Jirvin Morillo 6/27/26

Morillo is a switch-hitting Venezuelan catcher with some interesting ability on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball. It’s likely a bat-first profile long term, but he’s not a total butcher behind the plate either. Can see a path to average defense, but the bat is ahead of the glove right now, and he has some things to clean up defensively.

Offensively, Morillo takes polished, professional at bats, shows advanced plate discipline and feel for the barrel. It’s a really intriguing bat for Morillo, whose swing is clean/efficient from both sides. There aren’t a lot of superfluous moving parts to his swing. He has a well-timed hand load, and his head stays still through follow through. He exudes comfort and confidence in the box. Morillo knows the zone and likes to work deep in counts, which often results in favorable counts – then he makes pitchers pay. He shows good balance and timing, good pitch ID vs spin and offspeed, and an adjustable swing based on pitch location and velo band. Has good feel for the barrel and tends to work pull side but also has some aptitude to keep his hands in and go oppo with intent. Curious to see how he performs as he climbs the ladder and opposing pitchers work from ahead more often.

Morillo’s defensive evaluation is less rosy, but he shows a mixed bag of positive traits and player development opportunities. His anticipation and blocking ability on spiked spin in the dirt was good. I didn’t get a good throw in my 3-game look, but his career 37% CS is suggests good arm strength. Morillo has pretty good flexibility low to the ground, can get has a** low in a two-foot stance, and creates decent angles for his pitchers from a 1-knee setup.

His lateral agility/quickness was just OK, and he had a tendency to reach rather than shift his body in front of the ball. My biggest defensive concern was his hands. Morillo drops too many balls and has below average grip strength at present. The good news is his defensive deficiencies are things you may be able to fix. He also seems to have a good rapport with pitchers on his staff, walking off the field with them in a jovial way.