I have seen the future, and his name is Brandon Morrow

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As a Red Sox fan, I've seen my share of good young pitching. Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz, 24 and 23, respectively, have each thrown a no-hitter in the last year, and these young guns promise to anchor the Red Sox rotation for years to come. But watching the Sox-Mariners game tonight, I saw the future of pitching in the American League, and his name is Brandon Morrow.

Morrow is a 23 year old righty in his second full season in the big leagues. Tonight, after starter Miguel Bastista walked Dustin Pedroia and lefty specialist Ryan Rowland-Smith allowed a single to David Ortiz, Morrow was brought in to face Manny Ramirez. Though Manny has struggled a bit recently, just two innings before, he hit a three run homer off Bastista, #499 of his career. With two men on and no one out, it was clear Manny was looking to make it an even 500 against the young Morrow.

After a nice changeup to get ahead 0-1, Morrow buzzed Manny with a fastball inside. This kid was definitely not intimidated. On a one-one count, Morrow threw a 98 mph fastball that made Manny look really bad. Now, I've watched Manny hit for the last eight years, and I know that he doesn't look silly often. And when he does, it's sometimes even on purpose--he's such a good hitter, he'll take bad swings simply to lure the pitcher into throwing the same pitch again. "Another fastball, another fastball," I prayed. My wish was granted when Morrow busted out a 99mph heater. What a stupid I am! Once again, Manny looked foolish. Mike Lowell followed Ramirez, and had just as much success. After three straight off-speed pitches (slider-changeup-slider), Morrow blew him away with another 98 mph fastball. Against JD Drew--almost as if to show he could work backwards, too--Morrow threw four 97+ pitches to get ahead in the count before getting Drew to line out.



Morrow just went an inning, giving me plenty of time to research the kid. In his final year at Cal, he was dominant, sporting a 2.05 ERA with a 2.5 K/BB ratio, very impressive in the high-run environment that is college baseball. The Mariners made him the fifth pick in the 2006 draft, and he hasn't disappointed. In almost 100 innings pitched in all levels of pro ball, he's got a 3.19 ERA. Though he struggled with control somewhat last year--7BB/9IP--he seems to have turned things around this season. In 75 major league innings--all of which have been in relief, but, as Sox broadcaster Jerry Remy relayed, the Mariners are planning to move him to the rotation soon--he's struck out 83 and yielded only 5 homers. His fastball, as he demonstrated tonight, is a pitch to be reckoned with, and his off-speed stuff is a good 12-15 mph slower, very effective for throwing off hitters' timing.

This past offseason, the Mariners traded for Erik Bedard, hoping the Canadian would be the ace they wanted to put them over the top in the AL West. (The Mariners needed more than an ace to put them over the top in the AL West, but that's a whole 'nother story.) Though talks originally involved Morrow, they ended up holding onto the young pitcher. The Mariners will probably come to regret the deal, as they and Bedard have both struggled. But they will not nearly regret the deal as much as if they had traded Morrow away. They wanted an ace, and, while they didn't trade for one, at least they held onto one. Brandon Morrow is his name. Know it.