When the 2025 baseball season began for Mason Morris he was taking the mound at Mississippi and entering his junior season in the SEC. When the college season ended the reliever had a breakout year, going 5-1 with a 3.29 ERA and setting career highs in innings and strikeouts. That led to the Cincinnati Reds selecting him with their 3rd round pick in the 2025 draft in mid-July.

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After signing in late July, Mason Morris didn’t get on the mound in games that counted in the standings for over a month. But on August 31st he joined the Single-A Daytona Tortugas and made the start against Clearwater. He would give up a run on one hit in 2.0 innings and strike out four of the seven hitters he faced.

Five days later he would wrap up his regular season with another 2-inning performance. This one didn’t go as well as he allowed three runs on two hits and a walk while striking out three batters. That didn’t end the year, though, as Daytona made the playoffs and a week later Morris took the mound against St. Lucie. The right-hander held the Mets hitless that day in his 3.0 innings as he walked one batter and struck out two as the Tortugas clinched a spot in the Florida State League Championship against Lakeland. Daytona would be swept 2-0 in that series, making that day against the Mets the final start of the season for Morris.

For all 2025 Season Reviews and Scouting Reports – click here (these will come out during the week throughout the offseason).

Position: Right-handed pitcher | B/T: R/R

Height: 6′ 4″ | Weight: 225 lbs. | Acquired: 3rd Round (2025 Draft) | Born: August 21, 2003

Fastball | The pitch has touched 99 MPH and works in the mid-90’s.

Slider | An above-average offering that he throws in the upper 80’s.

Cutter | A plus offering in the low 90’s.

Curveball | An above-average pitch with 12-6 breaking action.

The last few years have been full of interesting transitions for Mason Morris. When he arrived at Mississippi he was a corner infielder, but he would make the move to the mound where he showed a raw but promising arm.  His first two years on the mound weren’t full of success, throwing just 7.2 innings in 2023 and in 2024 he had an ERA of 6.55 while throwing 33.0 innings and struggling to throw strikes. But with more experience as a pitcher he really took a step forward in 2025 and he began to have longer outings as he threw 54.2 innings in 19 games – all out of the bullpen.

Cincinnati’s plan is to give Morris a chance to start as a professional. He only had one start while at Mississippi in his 51 games. But he did get stretched out somewhat in 2025, throwing over 70 pitches in two games, topped 60 in three others, and 50 in four more. That’s not quite starter territory but it’s a good place to start at and requires far less building up than for a guy who had been a more traditional reliever in college.

When it comes to stuff, Mason Morris has it. He’s showing four pitches that are above-average or better. What he is missing though is a change up. Very few pitchers can get away with being a big league starter without a change up/split, so that’s certainly going to be something to keep an eye on – whether he can develop it (he has thrown one in the past but it was not a good offering) or if he can utilize another pitch to use against lefties to keep them more honest.

The Reds could very likely fast track Morris as a reliever if they wanted to go that route. But for now things will likely move a bit slower as they see if he can stick as a starter. If that plan isn’t going as well as they had hoped they can always go back to placing him in the bullpen where his plus stuff should work as a potential back of the bullpen type of reliever.

Stats

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Interesting Stat on Mason Morris

In 14 of his 19 outings this season with Mississippi he had more strikeouts than innings pitched.