MLB Player Profile: Justin Morneau
Minnesota Twins’ first baseman, Justin Morneau displayed a brilliant performance in preceding games as he hit number of RBIs and homers during second half of regular season. He also positioned himself in top infielders throughout his MLB career. Born on
May 15, 1981, Morneau is a first baseman in Twins’ roster and stands 6ft 4in with weight of 235 lbs.
The 30-year-old Morneau has eight years of experience in his professional career. During six Minor League seasons, Morneau showed his dynamic performance as he had 122 doubles, 87 home-runs and 153 RBIs with a satisfying batting average of .310. Due to his
amazing efforts in college baseball, he was geared up to make his place in first round of MLB Draft in 1999.
Morneau joined Milwaukee Brewers to play his first round. After playing his debut game in first round, Morneau was moved to Twins in place of first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz, who went to Boston Red Sox. In 2004, Morneau was able to play his first MLB game
with the Twins. He performed extremely well in his first round and became one of the most eminent players in MLB. Morneau played for seven years of his career with the Twins.
At the end of 2004, Morneau had 58 RBIs and 19 homers in 74 games. He was little bit shaky with the bat during 2005 as he suffered some minor injuries and illnesses. After rehabilitating from surgical treatments, Morneau retained his form and was able to
hit only 79 RBIs and 22 home runs for Twins.
The weather of injuries happened with a continuous interval for Morneau as he experienced again some minor surgeries. He played a vital role in his return game and smashed back-to-back home runs to give Twins a convincing win. He was sloppy at the start
of 2006 but then he recovered his form by joining bull-pen sessions and ended 2006 season with 34 home runs and 130 RBIs with a batting average of .321.
Morneau got many awards in 2006 due to his classy performance in consecutive games. He won a Silver Slugger Award in American League during the following season. Morneau continued his extraordinary performance at the start of 2007 also and won the Player
of the Month award.
He had managed to raise his hitting average also during 2007. Morneau showed his classy act in his fielding as well. He gave the Twins some unbelievable victories also by making stunning catches.
He played regularly with the Twins as their veteran players suffered some injuries at that time. June 15, 2008 was an unforgettable day in his professional career as Morneau bunted a sacrifice fly towards right-field and added a winning run in the MLB All
Star Game.
During 2008, Morneau re-sounded his six-year agreement with the Twins worth $80 million. After getting awards in 2007, Morneau’s confidence was raised and he began the 2009 season with a high esteem. He was then selected in All Star Game of 2009 due to his
awesome hitting average. Morneau had 30 home runs in his overall games of that season as he missed rest of the games due to fracture in his back.
Morneau started his 2010 season strongly as he raised his on-base slugging average to .437 and batting average to .345. Unfortunately, he went into disabled list after the 2010 World Series.
Morneau’s career has been firm and a minor dip in form is usual. However, he should demonstrate himself to be a muscular player with a strong renaissance in this season to help the Twins to the World Series. It will be a great challenge for player to maintain
his batting average.
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