RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 1 sourcesMay 2, 2014; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Brandon Morrow (23) pitches in the first inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images
Today marks Brandon Morrow’s 42nd birthday.
The Blue Jays acquired Brandon Morrow in December 2009, just before Christmas, in a trade that sent Brandon League and Johermyn Chavez to Seattle. I wonder how many Brandon-for-Brandon trades have occurred in MLB history.
Hugo wrote about the trade at the time and correctly highlighted the upside. He was pleased that we were trading a reliever for a prospect, even though we didn’t yet know who would accompany League in the deal.
Morrow, the 5th overall draft pick in the 2006 draft, was rushed to the majors, as per Seattle’s organizational philosophy and made the team’s opening day roster in 2007 as a reliever. He has made a few starts since then, but things have kept pushing him back into the bullpen – from the acquisition of Erik Bedard to various arm problems to his own erraticness. His pitching for the past three seasons has been marked by respectable overall numbers other than sky-high walk rates, which have really hurt him. There’s no doubt that there is significant upside in Morrow – the walks are a huge problem, but at 25, there’s still a chance Morrow can put it behind him. Morrow is eligible for arbitration. It’s hard not to like someone with a career 9.3 K/9 at 25, but there’s also a significant history of arm problems. I really hope the Jays make him a starter this season and just leave him there – if the Jays trade League and one of their top prospects for a reliever, I won’t be happy with the deal.
I included that mostly for the word erraticness, but that described Morrow to a T.
Chavez never reached the majors, but League had an up-and-down career post-trade. He notched 37 saves in 2011 and ended his career with three seasons as a Dodger, including an appearance in the NLCS. League had been a favourite of mine, but in general, trading a reliever for a starter is a smart move.
Morrow’s inconsistency did prove to be an issue. In 2010, he made 26 starts, pitched 146.1 innings, and issued 66 walks. However, pitching coach Bruce Walton worked closely with him. An interview with Walton included my favorite insight:
What does Brandon Morrow have to do to be more consistent?
Brandon, it’s my second year with Brandon. His first year we went through some walk issues, base on balls, command issues. We pretty much ironed it out. We got to the point where now we left a lot of balls in the middle of the plate. So we went from one extreme to the other extreme and we gave up a lot of home runs last year. He’s a fly ball pitcher at times, he doesn’t get a whole lot of ground balls, so when the ball sits in the middle of the plate belt high and they get a piece of it, it goes. So now it is just staying down in the zone consistently. I think for Brandon to be consistent, his pitches have to be down consistent. We have to plan the effort level to pitch at consistently. Consistency is what we have to work on in every aspect. Keeping the ball down, keeping our emotions in check. Keeping our work effort at a certain level, consistently. All those will come. This is the year for that to come. There’s steps to becoming a major league starting pitcher. The first step was that we needed to throw strikes. We accomplished that. It took us a year and a half. Our next step is to manage the game a little bit better and manage our emotions a little bit better and manage our season a little bit better and become more consistent. That’s where we are at.
Of course, we all remember his one-hitter in 2010.
And then there were the injuries. Over his five seasons with the Jays, he made 26, 30, 21, 10, and 6 starts, suffering nearly every type of arm injury imaginable for a pitcher.
Overall, as a Blue Jay, Morrow posted a 34-31 record with a 4.40 ERA. He logged 538 innings, struck out 561 batters, walked 212, and earned a 5.4 bWAR.
Morrow later played for the Padres, Dodgers, and Cubs, continuing to battle injuries. Notably, he pitched in all seven games of the 2017 World Series for the Dodgers in their infamous loss to the Astros. He appeared in 35 games for the Cubs in 2018, which marked the end of his MLB career.
He finished his MLB career with a 51-43 record, 40 saves, and a 3.96 ERA across 334 games and 113 starts.
Happy Birthday, Brandon. Wishing you a great day.
It is also Kevin Barker’s 51st birthday.
Barker played 12 games with the Jays in 2006 during a five-season MLB career, appearing in 126 games overall and posting a .249/.328/.354 batting line as a backup catcher.
He’s a baseball talking head now. Early in his career, he seemed always to be yelling, now he only yells most of the time.
And it is Spencer Miles’ 26th birthday.
Miles is having a strong rookie season, currently posting a 3.33 ERA across 38 games and 67.2 innings. Pretty impressive for a guy who’s had just 14.2 minor league innings.
Braydon Fisher also turns 26.
Braydon is in his second season in the MLB with the Blue Jays. His rookie year was very good, with a 2.70 ERA holding batters to a .551 OPS. This year has gone well too, maybe not quite as good, but a 3.83 ERA, holding batters to a .677 OPS
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