Opinion: Interesting that Marlins want Christopher Morel to play first base

Christopher Morel (YouTube)

The Miami Marlins have signed Christopher Morel of Santiago, Dominican Republic on Thursday to a one year contract worth $2 million according to Spotrac. With the announcement of the signing, the Marlins also announced that they plan to use Morel at first base according to Christina De Nicola of mlb.com. 

The positional change is interesting because Morel has not played a game at first base in his four Major League seasons to date. He has played 164 games in the outfield, 97 games at third base, 74 games at second base and 15 games at shortstop.

Last season, Eric Wagaman of Mission Viejo, California was the Marlins primary first baseman. However, there were some concerns of his play from a defensive perspective as he committed a Major League high 10 errors at first base.

The Marlins are the third team that Morel is playing for. He previously played two full seasons with the Chicago Cubs (2022 and 2023), shared the 2024 MLB season with the Cubs and Tampa Bay Rays, and the 2025 MLB season with the Rays. By signing with the Marlins, Morel gets to stay in the state of Florida.

In 2025 with the Rays, Morel batted .219 with 11 home runs and 33 runs batted in. During 105 games, 278 at bats, and 305 plate appearances, he has scored 37 runs, and had 61 hits, 16 doubles, seven stolen bases, 25 walks, 110 total bases, an on base percentage of .289, and a slugging percentage of .396.

It is interesting that Morel had a two-home run game against the Marlins. That came on June 7 in an 11-10 Miami win while he was playing with Tampa Bay. Also in the same game, Morel had a double and scored three times.