With all the talk of mental makeup, I have been pondering what about starting versus relieving versus closing changes. The point here is that while the goal, (throw strikes, get outs), is the same in all cases, the jobs are actually vastly different in a number of respects.
There are setup guys who fold as closers. There are some former starters who thrive as closers - and others who implode.
My own opinion is that "comfort" in the role is paramount to everything else. Of course, you have to have a minimum amount of ability. No matter how comfortable Regis might be on the mound, he's not likely getting anyone out in any role.
But, given "X" ability - why does the SP/RP sloshing seem so random in terms of results? I think it is mostly tied up in personality. But, it's certainly not binary. To close, you need to thrive a little on the do-or-dieness of the moment. You certainly cannot afford to be weak under pressure. But, it's actually a trinary proposition -- some guys thrive under pressure -- some fold -- many are ambivalent -- doesn't help or hurt them.
For starters, the game is much more complex, and the pattern of work is rather sporadic. Pitch, Rest, Toss, Rest, Rest, Pitch -- (or some variant thereof). You typically know your next start days in advance. But, that also means you may begin planning your strategy for that game, and going over hitters way in advance.
For relievers, it's much more a "what are the concerns TODAY" kind of deal. You've got more of an "in the moment" job, but it also has an aspect of not knowing whether you'll pitch or not.
From a psychological standpoint, the jobs are VASTLY different. And a guy who LOVES routine might well be more comfortable in EITHER situation -- because the starter has a between starts map -- while the reliever has a smoother sameness to every day.
My own personality is one that THRIVES on routine. I work to remove randomness from my life in just about every way possible. I'm at my best when I establish a routine that is steady and repetitive. And once in that routine, I get more and more CREATIVE. This sounds contradictory on the surface - but it's how things work "for me". Doesn't mean it applies to anyone else. (But, humans are suckers for foisting their own personality traits onto others).
With Morrow, I'm beginning to think that he's a bit like me. What he craves internally is a clear vision of tomorrow. But, his entire career has been one where he's relieving now - but that WILL change in the future. His return to the pen in a formal, potentially final, way is only days old. Sometimes it takes the mind a little while to catch up.
My suspicion is that the regimental nature of diabetes can alter or tweak the underlying psychology. It LITERALLY becomes a survival imperative. You may hate being regimented, but if your actual life depends on routine and attention to detail, you adapt. And I suspect that adaptation is likely not limited solely to that single arena of life.
My thought is that Morrow "can" thrive (eventually), as closer. But, it's not likely going to be a smooth journey. It's not the diabetes that is the issue -- first, he has to get comfortable. Then, he has to build up his consistency. And the final stage, (which has been almost completely absent from Seattle for years), is that he'll need to learn what to do on days when he IS struggling. Smoltz, Glavine, Maddux --- they didn't have their best stuff EVERY day. (Maddux had a couple of years where that was mostly true, perhaps), but the reality is that EVERY pitcher, regardless of talent has days where his body won't obey his mind.
Randy Johnson a few years back had a perfectly awful first inning. He was wild like a rookie. Within a dozen pitches, he realized how off he was, he figured out which pitches he actually could control to some degree, and simply ditched everything else for the night, (except as an occasional showcase). He bulled his way to a victory. A young arm would've been in the showers by the 3rd inning. THAT is the key ingredient that Hall of Fame arms develop.
I dunno if anyone on the Ms will develop that kind of magic. Morrow and Felix are so young, it's only guess work. But, even Rivera blows 4-7 saves a season. He'll typically have 3 weeks during a season, (not all at once), where he simply isn't sharp. But, he knows what to do to survive on those nights. Morrow is a Looooong way from learning those lessons. At this point, his best friends are going to be repetition and steady work. Results in the short term are almost irrelevant.
And just in case anyone has forgotten, in John Smoltz first outing as the annointed closer for the Braves, he gave up 8 runs. That was NOT an omen of things to come.

Well...
He CAN physically start; he did it last year. It just may be *more difficult*, and I don't denigrate him for that at all.
I still maintain that part of what's driving his interest in closing is the financial aspect, the $/effort requirement, and playing the odds for a lucrative career.
That opinion of mine is a nod to Doc's opinion of his (general) softness as a dominant pitcher, ala Gil Meche. If you think RJ pitches his guts out for an extra million, you're wrong. He pitches that way because he has to. It's how he's wired.
Lets say you're a musician, and you love writing music for film and video. This is what you're trained to do, this is what you're good at. You could write music for independent films, documentaries, feature-length dramas. Or, you could write music for.... TV commercials.
You're much more likely to have a profitable career doing TV commercials. There are more jobs out there; it's easier; you need less skill because you don't need to sustain & develop motifs for 2 hours - you only have to do it for 30 seconds. And you can make very nearly as much money as a top-flight film scorer.
So if you're a young composer, and you're success as a film scorer has been spotty and is uncertain, but you've done some really great commercials, well.... you can see how doing jingles might become more attractive.
/analogy

Well, if he is "physically" perfect for great control -- but has a long history of control issues -- then it pretty much becomes the default answer -- the control issues are in his head. While this may be blood-sugar related, it certainly doesn't have to be.
What's interesting to me in regards to Morrow's "makeup" is the insight that he asked to be a starter because "closer" was filled. That, in my mind, is exactly opposite of the assessment that he is "weak" in character. The guy with no ambition is the guy who does what he's told - never opens his mouth - gladly takes over as a setup guy, a swing man, a long reliever, and never says a word.
By his own words, it's a case of "if I can't close, then I want to start." This is not the picture of a guy attempting to avoid anything. In point of fact, it's a picture of a guy who WANTS to be "The Man".
While the mathematicians can talk value -- it is EASY to see how a player could view closer as being as much or more valueable to a team. He gets to pitch more often - almost always under pressure - and he gets to be a part of more victories.
The more I hear from Morrow, the more I interpret his actions and words as showing EXACTLY the type of "go-get-'em" character that he's been accused of lacking. His response to his meltdown was to say he needs to have a short memory. CLEARLY, he wants the situation, and understands that he needs to set aside the negatives and plan on succeeding next time out. THAT is exactly the kind of attitude you want in any ballplayer, but especially a closer.
As for the inability to figure out why he couldn't throw strikes. That is NORMAL for young pitchers. That's precisely what learning on the job is about as a ML pitcher. As noted previously, when starting, he was everything from stellar to dreadful. No clue as to what you were going to get on any given day. But, the kid still has VERY few ML innings under his belt. It takes time to build up that resevoir of experience and start finding those "go-to" solutions when things go awry. After two outs, he couldn't clear the mechanism. Why? He doesn't know. I don't know. But, I'm betting the coaches are going over the tape repeatedly to find some crumb to give the kid the next time things go wonky.
Ultimately, it probably isn't about what the crumb is - just that the kid has something to "try". That, by itself, may be enough to avoid another such collapse.
Then again, I wonder, if Batista gets the final out, and the club wins - is the angst about Morrow nearly as strong?

Matt,
Maybe Wak is just trying to get Batista to play himself off the roster as quickly as possible - before the games actually matter. :-)