Hot Stove: Morris looking beyond Bay trade
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Bryan Morris pitches during his session Thursday at minicamp in Bradenton. Fla.
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All baseball prospects face some pressure, to varying degrees, but Bryan Morris was identified by the Pirates' management as potentially the main piece in a three-team trade in which the other two main pieces were Jason Bay and Manny Ramirez.
Good luck, kid.
Bay proceeded to become one of the American League's top run producers in Boston, then signed a $65 million contract with the New York Mets, and Ramirez has created a "Mannywood" empire in Los Angeles.
And Morris?
He will turn 23 in two months, he is projected by management to repeat high Class A, and he is coming off a dismal year at Lynchburg in which he went 4-9 with a 5.57 ERA and was suspended by the Pirates for berating an umpire and other on-field behavior deemed "unprofessional" by director of player development Kyle Stark.
So, forget Bay and Ramirez, as well as the other three players -- Andy LaRoche, Brandon Moss and Craig Hansen -- the Pirates received in the trade. The priority for Morris, heading into 2010, is simply to regain the elite-prospect status this 6-foot-3 right-hander once enjoyed.
"It's almost impossible not to think about being part of the trade, but I'm trying not to," Morris said this week at minicamp in Bradenton, Fla. "You can look at it both ways. If you succeed, they're going to pat you on the back and say, 'Great job, man.' If you don't do as well, they're going to think they wasted Jason Bay. Yeah, there are high expectations from the trade, and I've let that bother me in the past. But now, I'm here to do one thing, and that's pitch."
Morris will start, he said, by focusing on perhaps his lone highlight of 2009, pitching 6 2/3 decent innings -- three runs despite 11 hits -- to win the decisive fifth game of the Carolina League semifinal against Salem. The Hillcats went on to win the title.
"The playoff game is the No. 1 thing, especially because that team just killed me in the regular season. That was a big boost because all year long it had been a struggle. For me to step up with the playoffs on the line, that felt good."
Morris' specific emphasis -- as per management's emphasis -- will be on fastball command. The Pirates maintain that they will not promote pitching prospects until they master the most basic pitch, even if that means prohibiting them from leaning on breaking stuff.
First Published January 17, 2010 12:00 am
