Q.  How'd he throw?

A.  He was tight in the first inning or two, not only all over the place, but seeming unable to really drive a fastball.  After about 40 pitches, he not only spotted the ball a bit better, but started flinging those high-90's fastballs in there.

It underlines the fact that Morrow simply hasn't thrown much this year.  Going into the Colorado start, he'd thrown all of 18 innings this entire season -- April, May, and half of June.  Jarrod Washburn threw 30 innings -- in spring training.

I think you have to take into account that you have a young guy who hasn't pitched himself in.  Judge his command after he's thrown 100 pitches four or five times.

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Q.  How was the command?

A.  Horrific.  Burke didn't even attempt to frame a location:  he just held his mitt dead-center, knee high.  Morrow rarely hit it.

His woes were best illustrated by the walk to the pitcher:  behind 2-1, Morrow aimed the ball down the middle of the plate and Burke almost had to come out of his crouch for both of the next two balls.

But like we say, that's not as bad as it sounds.  Morrow's rusty.  He's shown control before.

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By the way, Morrow threw tons of called balls on the first pitch -- and then a high strike % on every pitch other than pitch one.  That strongly suggests forward potential.  It's like a basketball shooter shot 30% on the first free throw but then 90% on all second free throws, after he found the range.

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Q.  You say his command was horrific.  So he walked five guys and got crushed?

A.  He struck out 6, walked only 1, and gave up 2 runs because the hits happened to cluster.

That is the kind of thing that doubtless has the Mariners drooling over the potential short-term returns.   The guy was 80 kinds of wild -- and the Padres had fits with him.  Six K's, 1 walk, and 0 HR's isn't something you'll get from Ryan Rowland-Smith next week.

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Q.  Effectively wild?

A.  He was a young, right-handed Randy Johnson.   He couldn't hit the broad side of a barn, and yet he fanned Padre after Padre.  Got 50% of his outs via strike three.

The Mariners invested several years in Randy Johnson.  Like we say, you could name any number of young flamethrowers who did their learning in the bigs, such as Ervin Santana, CC Sabathia, Roy Halladay, Kelvim Escobar, Randy Johnson -- if you don't like those examples, pick your own.

ML orgs will take a 9K young gun and let him throw for a couple years. 

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Q.  How was the stuff?

A.  Was very impressed with his offspeed.  He threw one 88 straight change (?? slider) that looked like the best Pedro ever threw, fanned a LH batter on a garbage swing.  WHOA, that pitch and a 96 fastball and it would be game over.

He threw several 84-86 splits (?? change? who knows how he holds any of these pitches) that overmatched Padre hitters.

I thought Mike Blowers had a great comment, that if Morrow could command his fastball, everything else would "fall into place."  That is what has been the case in the past, yes.  The split and slider have already been plenty good enough, if Morrow starts throwing strike one.

We should avoid muddying the water by claiming that Morrow needs to go down and learn how to play baseball.  The problem is clear, simple, and fixable.  Morrow needs to locate his straight pitch.

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Brooks Baseball had Morrow as throwing 19 offspeed pitches.  Guess how many were balls?   Five.

Believe it now, or believe it later.  Morrow's offspeed is ready.  The moment he begins spotting his fastball, he'll be tough.  Right then.

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Q.  How's the FB velocity?

A.  95.0 average this game, 95.7 last game.

There are three ML pitchers who average 95:  Verlander 95.5, Jimenez 95.5, Johnson FLA 95.0.  Felix averages 94.0 this year.

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Again, with Morrow you don't apply the same rules that you apply to Ryan Rowland-Smith.

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Q.  Any cornball D-O-V mechanical observations to help with his command?

A.  His delivery is so butter-smooth that you are not going to find a problem with his CG before release.

And it ain't his release point.  Look at a scatterchart on his releases on Thursday.  He's well above average in terms of consistency there.

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It's got to be visualization.  And indeed Brandon Morrow does finish "out in front" inconsistently.  One pitch he'll extend well forward, nose-to-leather, but then on another pitch he'll twirl over to 1B.  Watch and you'll see.  He doesn't finish in the same place each pitch.

If I were coaching Morrow, I'd be reminding him to finish out in front, with the nose-to-leather thought.  That helps with the visualization, too.   I think that Brandon Morrow needs Timothy Gallwey, not Mike Marshall.

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Q.  Prospectus?

A.  Personally, I'd like to see him keep his arsenal simplified, as he did Thursday.  He whipsawed the Padres between the 85 mph change/split and the 95 fastball, and mixed in his 88 change only three times (just to keep them thinking). 

I approve of this.  It's much easier for a young pitcher to find the touch on two pitches than it is for him to find the touch on four.  Josh Beckett is the prototype, and Morrow can pitch exactly the same way.

No idea, at what point Morrow will start "finishing" his pitches and find his command.  But am interested in watching :- )

Cheers,

Dr D