He's always had the great fastball. I think there were definitely makeup concerns with his "I never want to pitch in the pen or go to the minors" comments. The Mariners certainly did him a disservice by bullpenning him for no good reason, but Brandon shot himself in the foot here with managers and the GM both.
He's also a home-pitcher: he likes to be in his comfort zone, and the road doesn't provide that.
Home OPS-against: .585
Road OPS-against: .832
That's career, and it carried over to Toronto so it's not an effect of Safeco. He's a pitcher that needs to have his ducks in a row. He always seemed lost on the road IMO - I never wanted him to close for me.
And the other major concern I had was whether he would ever hold up to throwing that mid-90s fastball for enough innings to be successful.
Morrow, IP:
Age 19: 29
Age 20: 25
Age 21: 109
Age 22: 63
Age 23: 94
Age 24: 124
Age 25: 146
Again, maybe that's the Mariners' fault for not making him a starter no matter what. And Jack could have absolutely be wrong to trade him. Morrow has certainly produced some amazing starts that would lead one to believe he's a top-flight starter in the making.
But I wouldn't have bet on Morrow either at the time of the trade. If I don't think his arm will hold up to starting, but I think he's a mentally weak pitcher so he can't close, then what should I do with him? I would have tried to trade him for more, certainly, but Jack tends to trade people as soon as he's positive they cannot help him win. That'll lead to some people leaving early.
*shrugs* Again, I'm willing to put Morrow in the "oops" corner and still count Jack's trade record as quite a positive.
~G
Add new comment
1