Francisco Morales (minors)

Francisco Rabsatt Morales

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 190 lb.

• Born January 31, 1973 in San Pedro de Macoris, San Pedro de Macoris, D.R.

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Catcher Francisco Morales reached AAA before becoming a coach.

He was signed by the Chicago Cubs in 1991 and made his pro debut that year with the DSL Cubs, hitting .234 with one homer and 23 RBI. He split 1992 between the Huntington Cubs (7 for 39, 2B, HR, 10 BB) and the Geneva Cubs (11 for 49, 2 2B, 7 BB, 21 K). Morales hit .198/.296/.326 between Geneva and the Peoria Chiefs in 1993, with 57 strikeouts in 172 AB. In '94, the Dominican backstop batted .242/.298/.342 games in 38 games for the Daytona Cubs and .207/.292/.310 in 22 for the Orlando Cubs; overall, he had 58 whiffs in 178 AB. In early 1995, he played for Daytona (.257/.369/.495 in 36 G, 23 RBI) and Orlando (1 for 6). He was then traded with Paul Torres and Mike Morgan to the St. Louis Cardinals for Todd Zeile and cash.

Following the trade, Francisco was with the Savannah Cardinals (11 for 75, 4 BB, 23 K, 3 2B, HR) and the St. Petersburg Cardinals (.195/.293/.322). In all the movement, he hit a total 10 home runs in 1995, his best season of the 1990s.

In 1996, Morales started back with St. Petersburg, batting only .209/.280/.358 with 25 strikeouts in 67 AB. He then went to the Montréal Expos chain, spending the remainder of the summer with the West Palm Beach Expos, hitting a much more respectable .274/.335/.402.

Morales split 1997 between the Ottawa Lynx (2 for 18, BB, 3B, HR in his AAA debut), the Harrisburg Senators (10 for 49, 2B, 2 HR, 3 BB, 22 K) and West Palm Beach (.283/.336/.449 in 45 G as the backup to Michael Barrett). In '98, Francisco split the Harrisburg catching role with Barrett (who also played third base), hitting .215/.293/.344. In his 9th pro season, the veteran batted .229/.298/.354 with 10 home runs for Ottawa, his only full AAA campaign. He had 16 passed balls as the primary Lynx catcher. He led the 1999 International League in catcher putouts (661), assists (64) and passed balls.

He then played several summers in the independent Atlantic League, doing very well in that lower-tier circuit. He hit .273/.347/.459 for the 2000 Long Island Ducks with 31 doubles, 20 home runs and 91 RBI. He was named the league's All-Star catcher.

In 2001, Morales batted .291/.352/.499 with 23 long balls for the Ducks, driving home 85. He tied Oreste Marrero for third in the circuit in home runs and again was named All-Star catcher. The next year, the Ducks catcher hit .330/.410/.537 with 20 homers and 85 RBI. He finished second to Jimmy Hurst in the batting race, .011 off the pace. He also tied for 6th in home runs. He made his third straight All-Star team at catcher.

Morales split 2003 between the Camden Riversharks (.264/.316/.367) and the Mexican League's Cafeteros de Cordoba (8 for 37, 7 BB, 2 2B, 2 HR). He ended his career with the Macoto Cobras, hitting .300/.356/.550 in 12 games.

Morales worked for the Arizona Diamondbacks as an instructor in the Dominican Republic Academy in 2005-2006. He was a member of the Yakima Bears coaching staff in 2007 and South Bend Silver Hawks staff in 2008-2010. In 2012, he was a bullpen catcher with the Cleveland Indians. Morales became the hitting coach of the San Antonio Missions in 2014. He became a manager with the Fort Wayne TinCaps in 2015. Morales began the 2016 as manager of the Lake Elsinore Storm, but resigned on May 23. Tony Tarasco had been serving as interim manager since the previous week.

Morales was a coach for the Richmond Flying Squirrels in 2018-2019.

Year-By-Year Minor League Managerial Record

Year	Team	League	Record	Finish	Organization	Playoffs
2015	Fort Wayne TinCaps	Midwest League	77-61	3rd	San Diego Padres	Lost in 1st round
2016	Lake Elsinore Storm	California League			San Diego Padres