Exeter High School grad Cody Morissette promoted to Double-A Pensacola

Cody Morissette, shortly after the Jupiter Hammerheads pulled out an extra-inning win over Fort Myers on Sunday night, was called into manager Nelson Prada’s office.

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Prada told Morissette, who was on a rehabilatition assignment with the Hammerheads, the Single-A affliate of the Miami Marlins, to pack his bags and that he was being promoted to Double-A and the Pensacola Blue Wahoos.

“I am fired up and ready to get to work,” said Morissette, during his eight-hour drive from Jupiter to Pensacola on Monday. “I am very blessed to still be doing what I love, and something I’ve wanted to do since I was a little kid. Obviously, this is one step closer to reaching the ultimate dream (of the major leagues). I have to enjoy the journey, and not look too far into the future. I am trying to enjoy every day, that’s the biggest thing.”

Morissette was in the starting lineup on Tuesday, batting sixth and serving as the designated hitter. He went 0 for 3 with a walk.

Morissette, who led Exeter High School to back-to-back Division I baseball state championships in 2017 and 2018, batted .118 in 14 games with the Hammerheads this spring, going 6 for 51 with one home run and two RBIs.

“I didn’t have the numbers I wanted, but I was having good at-bats,” said Morissette, who played both second and third base this spring with the Hammerheads. “I want to continue having good at-bats, and hopefully find some more green grass once I get up to Pensacola.”

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Pensacola won the Southern League title last year, beating Tennessee in the championship series.

“I want to go on that team and just be one of the guys,” Morissette said. “I want to help them win every day and try to repeat what they did last year. We have really talented players here, and I feel like I am one of them. I am excited to join this group; there’s no better job than going to a baseball field every day.”

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While with the Beloit Sky Carp last year, Morissette fouled a ball off his left ankle in June, sustaining a fracture that sidelined him for six weeks.  For the year he hit .234 with 18 doubles, 13 home runs and 52 RBIs in 86 games (342 at-bats) with the Sky Carp. 

Morissette, who was selected in the second round by the Miami Marlins in 2021 after his junior season at Boston College, had surgery on that ankle in the off-season.

“It was a long process going through the surgery last year and still having to rehab during spring training,” Morissette said. “Just being able to be on the baseball field, play nine innings and play every day, was great; I missed doing that.”

Morissette said there was a lot of hard work just to get back to feeling healthy every day.

“Baseball is a weird game, and it really tests you sometimes,” Morissette said. “I am happy that I am healthy and I am ready to go do what I can in Double-A now.”

Morissette admitted there were times in the off-season where he felt sorry for himself.

“It was a tough situation, but my family helped me through it,” he said. “I feel mentally stronger because of it. Once I got out of the cast it was go time. Just getting back to the player that I can be, and really get my strength back was a long process. There were lots of ups and downs, but I thank my family for helping me through it. They’ve been with me since day one, and have helped me through the ups and downs on the baseball field.”

After spending countless games watching Double-A games in Manchester and Portland, Maine as a kid, Morissette is now a Double-A player himself.

“I am really excited to be at that level now,” he said. “I am very fortunate to be where I am. A lot of hard work has been put into this. I am just excited to be on this level and show what I can do.”

After joining the team Monday night in Pensacola, Morissette and the team embarked Tuesday morning on a six-game road trip to Montgomery, Alabama.

“I don’t know where I’ll be playing yet,” Morissette said. “I am just going to go to the field, see where my name is at and wherever they put me, I am going to make plays, try to put a couple of balls in play, and go have some fun.”

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Miami Marlins promote Cody Morissette to Double-A Pensacola