The sun will come out To-Morrow?

The most disappointing thing about the Mariners this season is not the awful record or the unbelievably bad play that earned it, it's the complete lack of creativity and risk taking by management. The team did nothing at the trade deadline. It only cut ties with players that shouldn't have been on the team in the first place. It also waited way too long to turn Brandon Morrow into a starter.

The M's started that process in August and Morrow's first start in early September against the Yankees was amazing. Since dominating the Yankees over 7 innings and holding them to one hit, Morrow has been more like the pitcher we thought we'd get.
Overpowering stuff, lapses in concentration and trouble finding the strike zone.

Including his first start against the Yankees, Morrow has gone 23 innings with a 4.70 ERA, 20Ks and 14 BBs. On the positive side, opposing batters are only hitting .193 against him. That means if Morrow could get his walks under control, he could be a very good pitcher. If, if and more if. So, has the great starter experiment made you feel like Morrow can be a bona-fide frontline pitcher?

He's got a great fastball, nasty breaking stuff and a change-up that is developing. He's no Tim Lincecum, the University of Washington pitcher that the Mariners passed on to draft Morrow, but I think he can be a 10- to 15-game winner with the upside of becoming a very good #2 pitcher.

My main concern is how many miles his arm can take if he is a starter next season. He's only pitched 60 innings in the big leagues and a few more in the minor leagues this season. Morrow's also lost a few weeks to injuries. Most baseball men don't like to increase a young pitcher's workload by more than 10 percent from year to year. Even if you ramp that up to 20 or 25 percent, then it still maxes out around 130 innings. That's just not enough innings to be a reliable starter. It probably means it will be another season split between the bullpen and a starting role.

There will be no answers any time soon, so there is nothing to do except enjoy his last start of the season on Friday against Oakland.