How chewing gum might have tipped pitches for Twins pitching prospect Andrew Morris

Pitch tipping has always been a part of baseball, hitters looking for any advantage when they are standing in the batter’s box.

Andrew Morris, a Twins pitching prospect at Class AAA St. Paul, might have had one of the more unique tells when he faced the Iowa Cubs three times in the first two months of the season.

Morris, who owns a 3.80 ERA in 19 outings this year, gave up 18 hits and 10 runs in his first two starts at Iowa. There was some suspicion Morris may have been giving something away when he struck out a season-low one batter across five innings on May 13, drawing one whiff on 16 swings against his four-seam fastball and cutter.

The cause: The way Morris chewed gum as he pitched.

“I would stop chewing it on offspeed pitches, and I continued to chew it on fastballs,” Morris said. “I really just had no idea what was going on. They were just on everything for a couple starts. I know those are some conscious things I do with my mouth, so that’s tough. It’s not anything, like, physical. It was weird. It was tough.”

When Morris faced Iowa again on May 18, he struck out a season-high eight batters in five innings. He induced 12 misses on 29 swings against his fastball and cutter.

“The gum was supposed to be the fix for me doing weird things with my tongue,” said Morris, who is ranked as the No. 22 prospect in the Twins’ farm system by Baseball America and should figure into the Twins’ pitching plans next year.

“There are some guys across the leagues, that’s one of their tips. Keep an eye on how much they chew it, or if they’re not chewing it. It’s little subtle nuances that each guy can give a little something away to help you.”

There is always some hometown excitement when a player is promoted to the major leagues for the first time, but it’s a little different for new Twins reliever Cody Laweryson.

The 27-year-old righthander hails from Moscow, Maine, a town with a population of around 475. When Laweryson thought about his journey to the big leagues, from a 14th-round pick in the 2019 MLB amateur draft, his mind immediately went to his family and friends back home.

“I come from a small area, and everyone kind of rallies around me,” Laweryson said. “I truly appreciate that. I wear that on my shoulder. For this moment to finally happen is just amazing.”

Laweryson posted a 2.86 ERA in 34 relief appearances this year, evenly split between Class AA and AAA. He totaled 45 strikeouts and 14 walks across 44 innings.

“It was shocking at the time,” said Laweryson, who pitched two scoreless innings against Arizona in his big-league debut Saturday night. “But it was always something I expected coming into the season. It was the last year I was going to be here [before reaching minor league free agency]. I had high expectations for myself. I had a really healthy offseason and I felt really ready to go. At the time, it was a very surprising moment, but I’m excited to be here.”

Laweryson, unsurprisingly, received a lot of messages from people in his hometown after news broke that he was called up.

“I’ve gotten a message from pretty much everyone in the town, so it’s been pretty crazy,” he said.

• The Cedar Rapids Kernels, the Twins’ High-Class A affiliate, advanced to the Midwest League championship series for the third time in the last five years with a 7-1 victory over Beloit on Friday to clinch the best-of-three series. The Kernels will face West Michigan, a Tigers affiliate that won 92 regular-season games, in a best-of-three series for the title.

• Twins manager Rocco Baldelli didn’t have a medical update on catcher Ryan Jeffers, who remains on the seven-day concussion injured list, but the Twins manager noted, “He’s doing more and he’s doing better.”