Morgan battles Blue Jays, weather in debut

CLEVELAND -- So many Little Leaguers dream about the day they’d make their debut in the Major Leagues. But it seems safe to assume that Eli Morgan’s fantasy never included rain, cold temperatures and wind gusts over 30 mph.

“Yeah it was strange,” Morgan said. “Thankful though, the whole day, I was wondering if we'd even get the game in. So, very thankful for that.”

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Morgan was thrust into a difficult situation already, having to get a last-minute callup to the big leagues to replace Zach Plesac, who landed on the injured list on Wednesday with a right thumb injury, with just four career Triple-A starts under his belt. He was excited for the task, but the weather was unwelcoming, and he struggled to fight the conditions, resulting in Cleveland’s 11-2 loss to Toronto at Progressive Field on Friday night in a game that was called in the seventh inning.

“I feel bad for him,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “I don't know how you evaluate that outing. I thought he was going to get blown off the mound. That was a really tough task. And give them credit. They did a pretty damn good job. That was some of the worst conditions I think I've ever seen.”

It started out OK, but only for a few moments. Aside from a leadoff single, Morgan was efficient in his first big league frame, and he had a decent second inning. His heater usually sits around 90 mph, although it can clock in faster at times, and it averaged 88.3 mph on Friday. And his go-to pitch -- the changeup -- was responsible for two of the three outs in the first.

“Stuff played OK, I would say,” Morgan said. “I wasn't throwing as good out of the stretch -- as good as I would have liked. I think once I get back to establishing the down-and-away fastball, my stuff will play a little bit better than it did today.”

But as the night went on, the weather got worse, and so did Morgan’s performance. He stood on the mound in the third inning with his uniform rippling in the wind as if he were a meteorologist reporting from the street in the middle of a storm. Suddenly, the wheels fell off the cart and a sequence of walk, flyout, single, double, double, homer and another walk ended his night after 2 2/3 innings, having permitted six runs on eight hits with one strikeout and two free passes.

“Yeah, it was little tough,” Morgan said. “A little hard to get a good grip on the ball. But it's stuff I've dealt with before, can't make excuses for that. … I went to school at Gonzaga, so we definitely had some cold games, some rainy games. That was definitely one of the tougher ones I've pitched in, but definitely not the first time I've pitched in some colder rain like that.”

It wasn’t the debut he expected, but Morgan’s family was still in the stands, and he still accomplished the dream that all Minor Leaguers set out to do. And even though Morgan's pitching line wasn’t a memorable one, the Indians still have holes in their rotation that they need to work through. With the club’s doubleheader against the White Sox slated for Monday, it’ll need to find six starters before its off-day on Thursday. So Morgan’s next shot -- in better conditions, he likely hopes -- on the big league rubber will come again shortly.

“They really want me to keep my head up,” Morgan said of his Major League coaching staff. “They were tough conditions today, especially on a debut day. They made sure I knew that. Yeah, so, they just want me to keep my head up and look forward to the next start.”