More needs to be made of Morrow

Phil Gurnee ♦ July 28, 2017 ♦ Leave a comment

Much of the talk this year has centered around the amazing seasons that several Dodgers have had who started the year in AAA. That talk has always been about Cody Bellinger and Chris Taylor. For good reason.

But, Brandon Morrow would like to you know he is kicking ass as a 100 MPH throwing setup man and has done as much to solidify the Dodger bullpen as anyone not named Kenley Jansen.

Jeff Sullivan over at Fangraphs gives us the lowdown on Morrow.

I’m providing the link above not just because I’m going to grab a quote, but because it is a well-written article that if you are bothering to read this, you should read that because I’m just the fluff while Jeff is the guts.

Morrow’s average fastball is up 2.7 miles per hour. That’s the biggest increase in the major leagues this season, and it would count as the 13th-biggest increase over the past decade. Brent Suter is up 2.6 miles per hour, to 86.9. Morrow is up 2.7 miles per hour, to 97.8. Lately, he’s been throwing even harder than that. You could ask Dozier about that if you wanted to.

His arm strength having returned, Morrow looks electric again. But this goes beyond just his raw stuff. Morrow has also made progress elsewhere — as he’s gotten older, he’s matured into something of an extreme thrower of strikes.

Morrow was one of those inexpensive pickups this past winter that has all sorts of upside with little downside.  He always projected to be a great bullpen piece if he could simply be healthy, and now he is. It must be frustrating for an organization like the Padres who spent all the money on Morrow and got none of the benefits because of his numerous injuries only to see him excelling for the Dodger for peanuts.  The Dodgers acquired him in January and I briefly commented at the time how I liked this pickup.

Morrow almost made the Dodgers out of spring training but the numbers game (Sergio Romo) had him start the season in the AAA. Morrow did stuff, bided his time, got one callup and didn’t give up any runs in five games but still found himself back in AAA. Such is the Dodger depth.  His 2nd callup wasn’t expected to be for long either but when you don’t give up any earned runs over and over you get to stay.

Right now Morrow is an integral part of the bullpen and could be a key reason why the Dodgers aren’t busy bringing in another right handed bullpen piece. They got theirs.