Cleveland Indians: 5 best prospects you don’t know (but should)

Elijah Morgan, SP, Hillcats

Elijah Morgan, a 2017 eighth-round pick recently received a promotion to Class A Lynchburg after shutting down opponents in the Midwest League with 56 strikeouts in 44 1/3 innings.

Through eight starts, the righty had a 1.83 ERA with batters hitting .194 against him.

Morgan was excellent playing in short-season rookie ball with the Mahoning Valley Scrappers last season and quiet bounced into the Tribe’s top 30 prospects, as compiled by MLB Pipeline.

The Indians really liked how Morgan pounded the strike zone coming out of Gonzaga. Brad Grant, the man responsible for running the MLB Draft, even call him an “elite” strike thrower.

At the time he was drafted, Grant described Morgan as someone with an “average” fastball, but added that his changeup could be above-average if everything goes according to plan.

No one could’ve expected Morgan to be this good, this soon.

His promotion was due, considering he pitched in college. He was 21-5 with a 3.15 ERA for the Zags in three seasons. he struck out 281 batters in 256 career innings.

We’ll know soon if he dominated Low-A by being a savvy college pitcher, or if his big step forward was because of a huge step in his development.

So far, so good at Lynchburg. Morgan’s 2-0 with a 1.96 ERA.  He has 18 strikeouts in 18 1/3 innings.