PEORIA, Ariz. — Brandon Morrow, groomed since midway through last season as a starting pitcher, will be a reliever.
Now and forever, in his mind.
Morrow said Sunday that he approached manager Don Wakamatsu about a week ago saying he believes he can help both himself and the team better as a relief pitcher.
“I came to them,” Morrow said. “They were going to give me every chance to start because that’s what I’ve asked for in the past. There’s a lot of different aspects that went into my decision making.”
Among them was his health. Morrow, a diabetic, can more easily monitor his blood sugar as a reliever.
The bigger factor, however, is Morrow’s desire to be a closer. He loved doing it last year while J.J. Putz was hurt and, despite the positive experience in five starts at the end of season, he began thinking again about the closer role after Putz was traded in December.
“Diabetes is a little bit of a factor, but the major thing is the excitement from coming in at the end of the game,” he said.
Neither Morrow nor manager Don Wakamatsu was willing to say the closer job is now settled.
“I don’t think I’ll be the closer (to start the season) and I don’t think we’ll have a closer,” said Morrow, who suffered tightness in his forearm early in spring training and continues to build his strength. “They’re not just going to hand the job over to me without showing that I can come back and be the same type of reliever that I was last year. I think we’ll probably go with the hot hand for a little bit, and somebody will step up and take over.”
Wakamatsu wouldn’t even say Morrow is certain to begin the season with the big-league club. A lot will depend on how he rebounds from the back-to-back games he is scheduled to pitch Tuesday and Wednesday, plus the game he will pitch next weekend in Las Vegas.
“We’ll evaluate and probably make a final decision in Vegas,” Wakamatsu said. “We’ll see how he reacts outing to outing. We’re not going to anoint anybody at this point.”
Wakamatsu, in fact, didn’t rule out the possibility that Morrow would start the season in the minor leagues and pitch every fifth day to build his stamina as a starter.
Morrow, however, seems to have moved past any thought that he’ll ever start again.
“I think I can help the team more in the bullpen,” he said. “I think I’m better built for the bullpen. Once you get a taste of closing, I don’t think many people would want to go back to anything else.”
Morrow also nearly had a taste of the ultimate as a starter, taking a no-hitter against the Yankees through 72/3 innings on Sept. 5. It was his first game after being converted into a starter.
“You can’t let one game dictate that,” Morrow said. “I can’t just hang onto that one game my whole career. Consistency is much more important.”
After considerable debate in his own mind, Morrow said he felt a huge burden was lifted when he told the Mariners he wanted to be a reliever again.
“It was a real tough decision. I had a list of pros and cons and why I should do one over the other,” he said. “I thought about it a lot.”
Read Kirby Arnold’s blog at www.heraldnet.com
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
