To Morrow, There's Always Another Role

NEW YORK – An interesting coincidence Tuesday night that Brandon Morrow got to pitch against Joba Chamberlain at Yankee Stadium.

Both were taken within the first 41 picks of the 2006 draft.

Both made it to the majors as a reliever.

Both have undergone an awkward relief-to-starting midseason transition while staying in the majors: Chamberlain last year with the Yankees and Morrow this year with the Mariners.

Even after the transition we've been left wondering, are they better off in the rotation or the bullpen?

The Yankees have been stubborn in their attachment to Chamberlain as a starter (and certain segments shout down anyone who dares to suggest that Joba might belong in the setup role -- a role he flourished in during the second half of 2007 – even though on Tuesday he never showed that same fastball, hitting 95 six times and 94 six times but sat mostly at 92-93).

But the Mariners seem less certain of what they have.

Asked what Morrow's long-term role is, general manager Jack Zduriencik told FanHouse, "I think right now this is what we're going to do with him."

And manager Don Wakamatsu said: "This is it right now. This is the direction we're heading, and we feel pretty good about it. The rest is going to depend on the consistency and the efficiency. We're doing several different things with him, whether it's mechanical or pitch selection, trying to get him a little bit deeper into ballgames."

Morrow, who turns 25 on July 26, struggled in that regard Tuesday, throwing 98 pitches in 4 2/3 innings and walking five, including four of his final 10 batters. The Mariners lost 8-5 (Sean White took the loss).

"It was really myself getting myself into trouble there," Morrow said.

Which is why some scouts aren't sold on Morrow as a starter but as a one-inning guy.

"The biggest thing we talk about is not the stuff," Wakamatsu said. "It's just the inconsistency where he'll get a little bit out of whack and walk some guys.

"The command just kind of comes and goes. He'll lose it for a hitter or two."

Morrow did showed flashes of the potential that made him the fifth overall pick four years ago. Of the five hits he allowed, two came on broken bats and his fastball hit 97 mph (with 34 pitches 95 or faster). His curve was as hard as 85 and he threw sliders that broke straight down. That stuff helped him limit the potent Yankees to one earned run.



While Chamberlain's 2008 transition was preplanned as a way to limit his total innings, Morrow's path has been a bit haphazard.

He made the move from reliever to starter last year as well, except he went down to the minors to get stretched out. He came back up in September and nearly no-hit the Yankees in his first big-league start.

With that success, Morrow came to spring training this year as a rotation candidate, although the Mariners kept him in the back of their minds as a potential closer because they had traded away J.J. Putz and Morrow was one of the few players in camp with a big-league save (10 of them, to be exact).

Then, when Morrow missed time in spring training with illness and a sore forearm and didn't have a chance to build up his endurance, the Mariners decided to make him the closer after all.

"He's not stretched out and he's the only guy who's ever closed a game before," Zduriencik said. "So he was the logical candidate [to close] despite the fact that it wasn't necessarily ideal."

In his first appearance, Morrow walked three and took the loss. He recovered but wound up on the DL in early May with biceps tendonitis. And then in mid-May he blew save chances on consecutive days in Texas, forcing Wakamatsu to turn to David Aardsma as his closer.

As Morrow spent about three weeks lingering in middle relief, Seattle debated again sending him down to get stretched out for starts. Then Erik Bedard went down with yet another injury, and the Mariners needed a starter.

"All of us felt that, as we talked, we needed to get him innings," Zduriencik said. "Here's a 24-year-old, 25-year-old kid and we've got to get him innings. So what are we going to do? Well, let's try to get him innings here. Then we lost several pitchers. So we were going to give him two or three innings and build him up and see where it took us. And that's where we're at now."

Which is ... where?

"I think he has to prove he is [a starter]," Zduriencik said.

For Morrow, there is no question.

"That's over," he said of relieving.

Morrow said he went back to the bullpen this year only because of his abbreviated spring and the team's need. Now that he's stretched out again and Aardsma has done nicely as the closer, Morrow sees no reason to change course again.

"That was always my mindset," he said.

Hmm. On March 29, he told reporters he was back in the bullpen for good, saying, "I feel good about it. I feel back home."

Conclusion: None. We have no idea where Morrow will end up, since the Mariners don't know where Morrow will end up and he seems to flip-flop.

"I think anything he wants to do he can do," Aardsma said. "I think the one thing that caught up to him this year was adversity. He faced a lot of adversity. ... It's, how do you get above that? He's had to learn, and he's doing it.

"He can close, he can start, he can middle relieve, he can probably hit if he wanted to. He's amazingly talented."