Brandon Morrow - Safeco vs Cheney
Q. What are the costs to THE SEATTLE MARINERS if they keep Brandon Morrow in Safeco Field?
A. Overall, not much. Morrow isn't replacing Felix Hernandez in the rotation. He's replacing whoever the #5 starter is. I'd rather have Morrow start, right now, than Garrett Olson.
I'm not talking about comparing past results on Olson vs Morrow vs RRS. I'm talking about what I expect from each pitcher going forward. I'd rather have Morrow.
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Of course, you have potential pressure on the bullpen. Thus far, "pressure on the bullpen" is a cliche. In practical terms, the Mariners have an outstanding innings-eating rotation and several durable relievers, notably Chris Jakubauskas and Roy Corcoran and Miguel Batista, who aren't getting enough work.
The costs to the Mariners' ballclub -- aren't. It's not an issue. Which is why Wok and Capt Jack have him up here.
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Q. What are the costs to BRANDON MORROW if he stays in the big leagues?
A. There's really only one cost: he doesn't have quite as much luxury to "work on pitches" when he's in the big leagues.
At Cheney there is a LITTLE less pressure to get the hitter out. But don't kid yourself that it is okay to go down there and give up 8 runs. It isn't. You give up three home runs and you're out of the ballgame, Cheney or not.
Still and all, if Morrow wants to throw 11 splitfingers in 17 pitches, he can do that in AAA, theoretically. I've never seen it happen, in reality.
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Q. What SPECIFICALLY would he work on, at Cheney, that he wouldn't work on in the big leagues?
A. That's exactly the thing. The #1 thing that Brandon Morrow needs to work on, is command of his fastball.
He doesn't need to learn how to spin a curve. He doesn't need to learn how to slide step. He doesn't need to learn to stop tipping pitches. And he doesn't need to learn a new pitch. He needs to spot his FB better, period.
As Mike Blowers correctly observed Thursday, if Brandon Morrow could throw his FB for strikes, then his 85 split and his 89 slider are already plenty good enough. "Everything else would fall into place" as Blow put it -- and as Morrow has demonstrated in the past.
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So, leaving behind the knee-jerk for a second :- ) and thinking about it: where is the best place for Brandon Morrow to work on command of his fastball? Why would Cheney Stadium be a better place to work on this?
You could work on FB command in bullpens, for that matter. The point is this: a pitcher goes to AAA to work on things if-and-when he has specific radical problems that cannot be solved in the majors.
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Q. What is the benefit to THE SEATTLE MARINERS of keeping Morrow in the major leagues?
A. That, at any given moment, Morrow might shake off a little rust, get loose, get an improved feel for his fastball, and start single-handedly winning games for them.
And that, even throwing wild, Morrow can win some games for them. Personally, I believe that Morrow once stretched out will immediately give the Mariners a better chance to win games than either RRS or Garrett Olson would.
Look, Morrow hasn't thrown much this season. Thursday, you could see him starting to get loose, as the velocity went up and he began to hit spots better. It's not unreasonable to think that he needs to "pitch himself in."
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Also, if Morrow is at Cheney, they get scouting reports on what Morrow's doing. If he is in the big leagues, they can observe him directly. That's huge.
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Q. What is the benefit to BRANDON MORROW of staying in the big leagues?
A. That he has a far better support system.
He's got big-league coaching, big-league video and data, and perhaps most important, big-league catching and umping. How is Adam Moore going to tell Brandon Morrow what checkpoint is off?
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Q. What's the Dr's RX?
A. It seems to me that, looked at coolly and objectively, the benefits outweigh the costs here. Morrow's problems are relatively simple and fixable, and he is getting the right help with those problems, and compared to other #5 starters he's not hurting the club.
If and when Morrow gets into a Roy Halladay situation, to where he's completely fouled up mentally, then fine, hit the re-set button. The guys in the dugout do not believe that is the case.
My guess is, that if you let the lad pitch a little, he'll get loose and find his command fairly quickly. We'll see.
Cheers,
Dr D
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- kudos to LL for the screen shot.