  Brandon Morrow will start next Friday's opening game of a series at Yankee Stadium, then not again until 2011. (DAVE ABEL/QMI Agency) |
TORONTO - "Better safe than sorry."
That was how Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos characterized the decision to shut down pitcher Brandon Morrow for the rest of the season following his next scheduled start.
The Jays have talked all season about protecting their young pitchers from excessive innings buildup. Ironically, Morrow's rapid development as a cornerstone of the Jays' rotation of the future is the main reason Anthopoulos, pitching coach Bruce Walton and manager Cito Gaston have come to this decision.
"It's one of those things," Anthopoulos said. "He's had a wonderful year. He pitched 125 innings last year over six months and now he's already at 143 innings. I told Brandon today that I didn't think that he'd get to this level this fast and that it's a credit to how well he has pitched.
"He has tremendous ability and he's going to be a huge part of this going forward. We'd rather be safe than sorry."
Anthopoulos was clear that there is no hint that Morrow is experiencing any arm trouble. This move is strictly precautionary.
"We want to make sure we do everything we can to build him up properly, especially since this is his first full season as a starter and he's already well beyond what he's ever done before," Anthopoulos said.
Morrow will start next Friday's opening game of a series at Yankee Stadium, then not again until 2011.
He took the news with his usual stoicism.
"It's not as if it was a debate," he said. "They just told me this was how it was going to be. I understand what they're trying to do. They have the club's and my best interest in mind. I wasn't going to argue."
Anthopoulos has always said he would err on the side of caution with any of his young arms.
"Most teams have a soft rule of only a 20% jump in innings season over season and we've debated whether it should be one more start or two more starts," Anthopoulos said.
"I even pulled Brandon aside over the all-star break and told him: 'We don't want to do this but you're starting to pitch so well that at some point we're going to have to skip you and there is a scenario in which we might have to shut you down. It's a credit to how well you've pitched.' "
Anthopoulos said the plan is to promote a starter from either double-A New Hampshire or triple-A Las Vegas to step into Morrow's spot in the rotation. In addition, the team will need spot starters on Sept. 8 and again on Sept. 26
"We have some guys in Las Vegas and in New Hampshire who we will watch start to start," Anthopoulos said. "The candidates are fairly obvious. Somebody will go into Brandon's spot and somebody else will make a couple of spot starts."
The "obvious" candidate from Las Vegas is Brad Mills, who has made a couple of starts for the Jays this year. Other candidates at double-A could be Zach Stewart or Kyle Drabek, though both those pitchers are rapidly approaching their innings limits for the season, as well. Scott Richmond is also pitching well at New Hampshire.
"We have some guys in mind but we're open to anything," Anthopoulos said. "We have another 10 days or so before we have to make a determination. Current performance may help somebody in this regard. It's really fluid right now."
Of the pitchers under consideration for these September stars with Toronto, Drabek is probably a long shot.
"Right now we're open-minded but we are looking at his innings," Anthopoulos said. "We wouldn't rule it out but there's no question he's getting close to his innings (limit)."
ken.fidlin@sunmedia.ca
