The Jays start the third month of the season with the 5th best record in baseball, bested only by the Rays, Yanks, Twins and Padres.
They also have the 5th best run differential at +49, with St. Louis replacing San Diego in the list of teams ahead.
Brandon Morrow was great on Monday night, allowing a single run over seven. And he didn't actually allow that run; it was an inherited runner that Scott Downs waved through.
So Morrow was great. We're used to seeing him shut down an opponent every few starts. And yet this is not how we're used to seeing it happen. Morrow, with his incredible rates of 11.7 strikeouts per nine innings and 5.8 walks per nine innings, managed to spend seven innings walking just two and striking out only one.
I would have been interested in watching this start to see what kind of contact he was getting. I'm sure there are plenty of Bauxites who can provide some insight. Was he keeping hitters off-balance, inducing weak swings and softly-hit balls? Or was he just getting lucky with balls in play?
I would love to get all excited about Morrow finding a new strategy (pitch to contact!) that works with his stuff and gets him to throw strikes. But to be honest with you, it seems like it's something new every week with Morrow. Marcum notices something and tweaks his mechanics. Buck talks about about establishing all his pitches early and not relying on the fastball. "Bingo!", I think. "Now, just do that every time." Were life that simple.
Do you think the Jays should pick one strategy and try to stick with it? Or does Morrow have so much naturally inconsistency (also known as Baseball ADHD) that it would be counter-productive? Would it be better to just send him out there and let him do his thing, gaining major-league experience and improving incrementally in each facet of the game rather than focusing on mastering a particular approach?
It's like my golf swing. When I was taught to swing a golf club - probably by my dad, though I'm not entirely sure on that, especially since my dad isn't a very good golfer - I was taught one basic thing: keep your left arm straight on the backswing, straighten both arms through the stroke, and then keep your right arm straight on the follow-through. And to this day, that's all I think about when I'm swinging. I'm not sure, for example, what my hips are supposed to do - I assume that's a big part of golf swings. Maybe mine do the right thing naturally. Probably not.
I've never bothered to try improving my swing because I don't play very often - probably between 0-2 times per year. Every time I hit the course it's been so long that it takes me some time to figure things out. I show up on the first tee not knowing if I'll slice, hook, or blast one right down the middle. (Usually none of the above - on the first hole I'm happy if I make it past the reds.) I spend a few holes alternately compensating my swing as the ball's trajectory gradually approaches straight, like damped harmonic motion, and by the middle of the round I'm into a rhythm and my strokes become more consistent and I end up playing about as well as I always do, no matter if it's been a week or a year.
But aside from the infrequency of my golfing, I'm just not a body mechanics type of person. If I tried to introduce new theory and components into my swing, I think it would be counter-productive, because I'd be thinking about it, and I just don't have the dedication to hit ball after ball at the driving range until it's drilled into my subconscious.
And maybe Morrow is the same way. Maybe routine just doesn't work for him. Maybe he's the kind of pitcher who needs to go in to a start not having a clue what his repertoire is going to be, and make it up as he goes along until something works. And the more he pitches, the more he gets a feel for what is going to work on a given day. Just like if I played golf every five days, I'd actually start to improve, even without reading Lower Your Handicap by 5 in 5 Minutes! or ordering the Swing Correctron 2000.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20100601003815625