Morrow provides glimpse of greatness

Brandon Morrow set aside his first two poor outings as a Blue Jay to provide a glimpse as to why the team was so high on him when they traded for his services in the off season, showcasing the reason he was the 5th overall pick in the 2006 draft.

Morrow rendered the Royals bats hitless through the first 5 1/3 innings last night, mixing his pitches well to strike out 8 on the evening. After opening up the 6th inning with a walk and a ground out, Yuniesky Betancourt singled to break up the no hit bid, signalling the end of another Jays pitchers pursuit of history this year. David DeJesus followed with an RBI single which could have started a complete meltdown by Morrow, who has been susceptible to the big inning this year. However, the 25 year showed great resolve, calmly sitting down the next two hitters to end the threat.

Morrow had struggled considerably in his first two starts, giving up 3 runs in the opening frame in Baltimore before surrendering five in the contest, then getting lit up for 7 earned runs in 4 innings against Chicago. There were some people already calling for his head, suggesting he should be lifted from the rotation. That is absolutely the wrong course of action. Part of the reason he didn't work out in Seattle was because he was yo-yoed between being a starter and a reliever, which crushes a young pitchers confidence. The Jays should keep Morrow as a starter and be prepared to take the lumps that go along with it, because while he'll have his rough games, he'll fashion some good outings also which hopefully will become more commonplace as the year progresses.