M's Morrow: To major or minor?

On Sunday afternoon, in the seventh inning of a 1-1 game, runners on second and third, infield in, the Mariners turned to a reliever with all of six appearances in his rookie season. Here came Brandon Morrow to save another day.

The ensuing eruption came from the crowd at Safeco Field, courtesy of the 97 mph fastballs flung from the right arm of a rookie. Down went Tony Pena Jr. and John Buck, strikeout victims in another afternoon that announced Morrow's arrival.

Said his pitching coach Rafael Chaves: "There's lightning in that arm, and he seems like he has no fear."

Said his catcher, Jamie Burke: "That's why he's on this team. He's not scared."

That Morrow made the Mariners' roster in his first season out of the University of California is a testament to both his skill and the team's bullpen needs. It also represents a tradeoff.

The Mariners see Morrow as an eventual starter. So there's something to be said for the experience he would gain starting for Class AAA Tacoma, versus the experience he's gaining striking out big-league hitters in pressure situations like the one Sunday.

For the sake of comparison, local product Tim Lincecum, also a first-rounder in the last draft, is starting for the San Francisco Giants' AAA affiliate. He has been virtually unhittable and will likely pitch in the majors this season.

Morrow by the numbers


2 Number of wins, without a loss this season

3.48 His ERA through 10-1/3 innings

5 Picked No. 5 overall in the 2006 draft

5-1/3 Consecutive scoreless innings in last three appearances

8 Career minor-league games

22 He doesn't turn 23 until July 26

The Mariners chose the opposite route. Because, as closer J.J. Putz said, Morrow is "getting a feel for being up here." Because, as Burke said, Morrow is "too good to keep down." Because, as Chaves said, "right now, that's the job we want him to do. When it's time to talk about him being in the rotation, we'll talk about it."

You could say all those same things about Lincecum. The difference is in philosophy.

"It's a question of maximizing your resources," said Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus. "Are you hurting his development?"

Carroll points to former Orioles manager Earl Weaver as the guy who made famous breaking in pitchers as relievers. Of course, he carried just nine pitchers at a time and used them more frequently.

Different teams make different choices. Minnesota used its current ace, Johan Santana, in a relief role. Cleveland considered moving its top prospect, Adam Miller, to the bullpen, but he ended up in AAA.

There's also the matter of the 30-inning rule, where teams don't want to increase a pitcher's workload by more than 30 innings each year. Keeping Morrow in the bullpen guarantees he will stay within that rule, since he will pitch fewer innings as a Mariners reliever than he would as a Rainiers starter.

"I've seen less and less guys at AAA," Carroll said. "It's almost like finishing school. Lincecum is there, and really, what does that dude have to prove? If you subscribe to the theory that are only so many pitches in every pitcher's arm, what are these guys doing down there? Why are they wasting pitches at AAA?"

If Morrow has a preference, he isn't saying. He admits there has been an adjustment in moving to the bullpen, the biggest difference being time allotted to get loose. He agrees this experiment will help him later, "just having big-league experience and stuff."

Truth is, Morrow doesn't say much of anything. He's polite and respectful around the veterans, but also quiet and subdued. So much so that when he arrived in Arizona after the draft he was something of a mystery.

"I knew he was a diabetic, and he had asthma," Putz said, "but I didn't know he couldn't talk, either."

Putz lives near the Mariners' spring-training complex in Peoria, and as soon as Morrow arrived there, the veteran worked on getting the rookie to open up. Morrow chose to do most of his talking on the pitching mound.

Burke caught Morrow on the first day batters faced live pitching. After only a handful of pitches, he turned to Chaves.

"This guy has unbelievable stuff," he said.

The buzz built from there. Morrow pitched so well in spring training that the Mariners decided to use him in the bullpen, which surprised everyone, including Morrow. The club waited until the day before the season to make it official. Morrow's first call went to his parents. They were surprised, too.

Then he struck out Ian Kinsler on back-to-back 97 mph fastballs with the bases loaded in Texas. Then he retired five consecutive batters Sunday. Until batters prove they can hit the fastball, Putz said Morrow is doing them a favor by throwing anything off-speed.

Asked if Morrow reminds him of himself, Putz said, "I wasn't that good."

So the question lingers. The big-league bullpen? Or the AAA experience? Or, Carroll suggests, maybe something else.

"You've got to think things have changed for the Mariners in the last month," he said. "Especially in their rotation. So the question is: Where is he best suited? They're going to have to answer that."

Greg Bishop: 206-464-3191 or gbishop@seattletimes.com