On the Pharm: Adam Morgan testing the ‘learning curve'

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ALLENTOWN, Pa. — When players like Roy Halladay or John Lannan get injured, it does more than test the big-league club. It’s when veteran big leaguers like Halladay or Lannan get hurt that an organization’s minor league depth is put on display.

So far the Phillies have dipped into Triple A Lehigh Valley and dropped Jonathan Pettibone into the rotation. On Friday, Tyler Cloyd will make his season debut for the Phillies after going 1-3 with a 5.40 ERA in six starts for the IronPigs.

Next up could be 23-year-old lefty Adam Morgan, a pitching prospect that has quickly turned some heads in the organization.

After an All-American career at the University of Alabama, Morgan was selected in the third round of the 2011 draft and has been climbing ever since. In his first full season as a pro, Morgan posted an 8-11 record and 3.35 ERA for Single A Clearwater and Double A Reading. More impressively, Morgan had 169 strikeouts in 158 2/3 innings.

On the strength of that 2012 season, Morgan was tabbed as the Phillies' fifth-best prospect by Baseball America, earned an invitation to big-league camp in Clearwater this spring and began the season at Triple A Lehigh Valley where he was named International League pitcher of the week after a shutout three-hitter.

It was coming together very quickly for Morgan.

“He has a lot of talent. He’s here for a reason -- he’s here because he is talented and obviously he has a bright future ahead of him,” Lehigh Valley manager Dave Brundage said. “But he has a lot to learn.”

Since then, Morgan has been undergoing a “learning curve,” according to Brundage. Every young ballplayer needs a bout of adversity to help in their development, and Morgan is finally taking a lump or two.

“There is a learning curve here about how to handle situations and how to deal with adversity and that’s a good thing,” Brundage said prior to the IronPigs’ game against the Louisville Bats at Coca-Cola Park on Wednesday. “It’s experience. A lot of these guys who have had a lot of success coming through, like at the University of Alabama and the minor league system, have not had to deal with a lot of adversity. Your stuff gets you so far and once you get here or the big leagues, they are trying to deal with adversity.”

Morgan followed his three-hitter with a two-hitter over five innings against Pawtucket. But after allowing three runs and 11 hits in 19 innings in his first three starts, Morgan has been belted around for 12 runs and 19 hits in 15 2/3 innings.

In his last outing, Morgan allowed four runs in four innings against Indianapolis, with a pair of them coming on a long home run off his fastball. So like any young pitcher who was burned on a particular pitch, Morgan stopped throwing it.

According to Brundage, Morgan’s fastball command is the biggest asset in his arsenal.

“What happens when a guy hits a good pitch?” Brundage said. “The other day [Morgan] gave up a two-run homer and [he had to figure out] how to react and where did it take him and what to do? It was a learning curve the other day when he didn’t want to throw his fastball after that. He was thinking, ‘I don’t want them to hit that.’ But it’s not going to be the last two-run homer he gives up.”

It’s not necessarily a bad thing that Morgan has scuffled a bit. According to Brundage, it’s how the lefty responds to a rough outing that will determine how good he can be.

“Morgan is a young pitcher who doesn’t have as much experience as Jonathan (Pettibone) does,” Brundage said. “There is a lot to learn. It’s not a bad situation when he has to deal with some failure and deal with some adversity because it’s after that is what we want to see as an organization.”

So far Morgan understands the hard lessons he’s learned. He also said he picked up a lot just from watching the likes of Halladay, Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels during spring training. The old pros could handle their bouts of failure and use them to come back stronger.

And compared to what Halladay, Lee and Hamels have endured - and what Halladay has in front of him - Morgan is way ahead of the curve.
 
“The immediate feedback from this level is that you pay for a pitch that ends up in a different spot from where you thought it would be,” Morgan said. “At [lower levels], I could get away with throwing a mistake. Here, I can’t. I am always working on something to better myself and be consistent.”

Morgan next takes the mound on Friday night in Durham, N.C. Though he still has to put in more work in Triple A, Morgan is still just a phone call away from the big leagues.

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