One of the more interesting stories to follow in 2026 was the case of Yohandy Morales. The lazy corner infielder had a great season in AAA, but the front office refused to call him. When Morales finally shot, he performed well, but showed some of the flaws that made the public unbelievers.
After being drafted in the second round in 2023, Morales put up solid but unspectacular numbers in the minors before 2026, 2025 Back in 2025, Morales hit .265 with 15 homers and a .769 OPS between AA and AAA. Morales made consistent hard contact, but he struck out too much and hit too many ground balls.
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Those problems did not disappear in 2026, but production took a huge step forward. For the first two months of the season, Morales has been one of the biggest stories in the system. He hit .341 with a .924 OPS in April and followed that up with a better month, hitting .361 with a 1.122 OPS in May.
Morales slowed down a bit after that, but still put together a terrific season in Rochester. Overall, the former Miami Hurricanes star hit .286 with 25 homers and an .882 OPS in 104 games. However, the Nats did not promote Morales to the big leagues until September.
In my opinion, the biggest reasons are his hunting rate, which was over 30% in AAA, and his usual contact zone, which was under 75%. Both of those numbers are red flags, especially for the Nats regime, which is a little heavy on such underlying data.
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When September rolled around, there was no reason why Morales couldn’t make a cameo to pull the trigger. He immediately made a strong first impression, getting three hits, including a home run against the Braves. Morales are large, strong, and shockingly fast for their size, which makes them easy on the eyes. But he looks rounder in the second part.
In these 17 games of big league action, Morales demonstrated his strengths and weaknesses. On the positive side of things, Morales absolutely smoked baseballs. His 91.7 MPH average exit velocity, 62.5% iron hit rate and 15.6% barrel rate are all elite. That iron led to a .596 slugging percentage and an .851 OPS.
Raw moral power is really more of a tool. It has the ability to go from base pole to base pole. Morales actually put the ball in the air more than expected, but his opposite field power is the star of the show. Hitting a home run in Detroit on a cold day in a big ball park was truly jaw dropping. You have the power of a monster to pull off what Morales did.
Yohandy Morales was produced in AAA and produced in the big leagues. However, there are still reasons to break the pump. He struck out a single 31.9% of the time while not striking out a single walk in 47 big league at bats. It’s a combination of whiff and follow-up and exposed when the big league pitchers see more about it. We also saw Abimelech Ortiz get off to a hot start before the pitchers adjusted to him.
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Corner infield spots are also pretty crowded going into 2027. Based on their actions in 2026, it seems that Andres Chaparro, Domus Brady and maybe even Ortiz are all ahead of Morales in the pecking order. The Nats also don’t play third base in the big leagues, although they do play there in the minors. Blake Butera said he could see Morales playing something going forward though.
Yohandy Morales had a very productive season in the minors and his time in the big leagues. In these 17 MLB games, Morales is hitting .255 with 4 homers and an .851 OPS. His ability to consistently make hard contact is super powerful, and we’ll see how long it takes him. Overall, Morales had a great year, but he was holed up in the game. He will be in the mix for corner infield reps next year.
Time step: A-