Is This the End of the Road for Morrow?
If only. It seems that those two words can be used when talking about thousands of ballplayers. If only Corey Patterson didn’t tear an ACL. If only Greg Maddux stayed in Chicago. If only the Cubs didn’t trade Rafael Palmeiro/Lou Brock/Gary Matthews/Andy Pafko/Sam Jones/Bill Madlock/Dennis Eckersley. If only Bill Buckner caught that ball. If only.
Now it seems the “if only” tag will forever be affixed to Brandon Morrow.
Morrow is a fire-baller at the core. Consistently reaching speeds on his fastball over 100-MPH, and a 2-seamer with incredible movement and equally incredible velocity. He had the tools to be truly great. But injuries consistently derailed what could have been a remarkable career.
There was never a question of the stuff Morrow possessed. So little question that he was drafted in front of Andrew Miller, Clayton Kershaw, Tim Lincecum and Max Scherzer in the 2006 draft by the Seattle Mariners, and quickly found his way onto an MLB field. But over the course of his first several seasons, the injury bug had already settled in. After the 2009 season, he was sent to the Toronto Blue Jays.
Perhaps the consistent bouncing between starting and relief didn’t help strengthen a young arm, but the small, nagging injuries turned into stints on the then DL. Inconsistent availability turned into ineffectiveness. Ineffectiveness turned the fifth pick in the 2006 draft into an expendable piece.
Morrow would spend five seasons in Toronto, one of which was solid, and it ended in injuries. He would sign in San Diego, after an injury-shortened season in Toronto in which they declined a team-friendly option. But his two-season stop in SD was similar to the rest of his career, ending in yet another freakish injury.
“I never thought I was on the edge of falling off,” Morrow said. “Maybe it looked that way, but I never felt like that. Maybe after the surgery when I had Valley fever (a fungal infection suffered while recovering from shoulder surgery in 2015) was a low spot for me, and trying to work my way back that year. But I was able to get myself up in the Padres bullpen (in 2016).
“After that, you see yourself differently.”
The Los Angeles Dodgers would then take a flier on the 32-year-old pitcher. Knowing he had electric stuff, and the Dodgers already employed pitcher-friendly technology that could get more out of certain pitchers, this was a chance for him to bounce back. And bounce back he did.
In 45 appearances for the Dodgers in 2017, Morrow had a 2.06 ERA and a 0.916 WHIP. More impressively, he had a 1.55 xFIP that season and became the first pitcher in World Series history to pitch in all seven games.
The Cubs saw this and pounced, signing Morrow to a two-year, $21 million deal with a $12 million dollar club option that will most certainly not be picked up.
Morrow’s Cubs career seemed to be off to a great start. Most insiders pointed to Morrow as being snubbed from the All-Star game (however there were several relievers potentially more deserving), Morrow owned a 1.47 ERA, 2.97 FIP, and 3.19 xFIP. He was striking out 9.10 per nine innings, and most importantly was that shutdown, intimidating dude at the backend closing out games.
Today, Theo Epstein announced that the team would be shutting Morrow down for the season. This would mark the second August in as many years that the Cubs would shut Morrow down, and will likely be the last time the Cubs report on him until they officially decline his option after the season.
Now, at 35, where does Morrow go from here? The once highly touted prospect, derailed by injury, looking to make a comeback from what seems to be an annual season-ending injury is a hard place to be in. A guy that once was capable of being offered $20 million deals, might struggle to get an MLB contract in the offseason.
