Brandon Morrow sent to AAA.

by acblue on Aug 5, 2008 6:34 PM EDT

This is something most M's fans have been hoping to see for a year and a half now. Because he had so few innings as a starter in college and none as a professional, I'm skeptical that his conversion to starting will go as smoothly and progress as quickly as the Mariners seem to think it will. With that being said, Morrow's control, command, and secondary pitches have all been significantly better this year than last.

Last year, watching Morrow reach back and hurl 98 MPH fastballs towards home plate with little idea where there were going to end up was fun when they found the strike zone and infuriating when they did not, and his total lack of an out pitch inspired little confidence in his ability to turn over a lineup two or three times a night. This year, though, he's been able to spot his fastball on the corners (for the most part) and keep hitters off balance with his off-speed stuff.

I'm still cautiously optimistic; he's almost guaranteed to lose a bit of steam off his fastball, and I worry about his durability going forward. The Mariners do not have a fantastic track record when it comes to handling young pitchers. Still, in a season full of awful, this is a welcome bit of good news in Marinerland.

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Why waste time with him in AAA?

Why not convert him in the bigs? It’s not like the Mariners are playing for anything here.

by Lunkwill Fook on Aug 5, 2008 6:50 PM EDT 0 recs

+1

oh wait…it’s the mariners.

by asyouwish33 on Aug 5, 2008 7:01 PM EDT up 0 recs

There are a lot of very good reasons.

He’s never started above college. The Mariners rotation is such a mess that putting your bullpen in a situation where they have to pitch six-seven innings in one night is a recipe for disaster. If he gets rocked in the Majors it could damage his confidence. Morrow has expressed some desire to start at AAA before starting in the bigs. And many more. The whole Joba thing has made people think that converting relievers to starters in the majors is a much better idea than it usually is.

J.K.L.

by acblue on Aug 5, 2008 7:12 PM EDT up 0 recs

+1

The Mariners aren’t going anywhere this year, and likely not next year either. There’s no reason to rush the transition make the situation more stressful for Morrow than it is already.

by DrunkIrish on Aug 6, 2008 3:13 AM EDT up 0 recs

My mistake

For some reason, I thought Morrow had started in minors at some point. Honestly, wasn’t comparing him to Joba (considering the Yanks were especially cautious with him since they knew he was an injury risk—OOPS!).

by Lunkwill Fook on Aug 6, 2008 9:17 AM EDT up 0 recs

Really?

People who aren’t Bill Bavasi and Mike Hargrove think the 5th overall pick of a draft should be more than a reliever? Shocking.

Sending him down makes sense. This wasn’t an Earl Weaver move, where you start a guy in the pen. By putting him in the pen, they rushed him to the majors profoundly

by aap212 on Aug 5, 2008 9:00 PM EDT 0 recs

Eh

It does make sense; I don’t necessarily agree it’s a smart idea, however.

Morrow’s struck me as a pitcher whose stuff plays much better coming out of the pen. He has a bit more confidence in his fastball and he can get by with throwing just two pitches (fastball and whatever else is working that day) an outing. I think that this is somewhat similar to the Papelbon situation in that a dominant relief pitcher is much more valuable than a middling starter. Plus, it would have allowed the Mariners to explore the option of trading Putz while he still has a bit of value left.

by ThomasG on Aug 6, 2008 9:48 AM EDT 0 recs

Understand

But the Mariners really need to give him a chance to try to stick as a starter. If he sorts out his secondary stuff, he may wind up better than Papelbon was as a starter.

It’s definitely worth a shot to try and convert him- they could find an ace or solid #2. At worst, they just slide him back into the pen.

by demondeaconsbaseball on Aug 6, 2008 12:52 PM EDT up 0 recs

True

I would be completely against this if it weren’t for the Mariners next-best near-ready starter being Ryan Feierabend.

I will be pleasantly surprised if Morrow ends up being a legitimate mid-rotation starter. Here’s to hoping, I guess.

by ThomasG on Aug 6, 2008 2:09 PM EDT up 0 recs

Good thing they didn't draft Lincecum

Imagine what they’d be doing to him.

by aap212 on Aug 6, 2008 11:12 AM EDT 0 recs

What in the world?

What in the world were the Mariners thinking two years ago when they passed on the little kid from their own backyard? They already fired their general manager, but depending on how much he had to do with the Mariners drafting Brandon Morrow instead of Tim Lincecum, I might fire their Seattle-area scout, as well.

The Mariners likely thought in the much bigger Morrow, they were getting the player who was going to be the healthier of the two in the future. In actuality, they likely got the player with the lesser health.

Oh, and John? Still liking Phil Hughes and Homer Bailey better than Lincecum? :) They’re both younger and still have time to catch Tim, but it is they who are now doing the catching.

I believe both pitchers have missed time two different times with injury the past season and a half. One of the reasons I gave you for moving Lincecum above them was that I felt he as less likely to be injured.

I told you Will Carroll said he would choose Lincecum as his franchise pitcher for the next decade—even though at that point Tim had yet to throw a pitch above Class A ball. If you weren’t willing to listen to me, couldn’t you at least have listened to Will? :)

by sharksrog on Aug 9, 2008 3:13 PM EDT 0 recs