Time for Morrow vs Lincecum

When Brandon Morrow got his first major league start Friday night, it lent relevance to the whole Linceucm vs. Morrow debate. Both start now and both play for crummy teams. Lincecum’s record is 16-3 with a 2.54 ERA on a San Francisco Giants team that is one slot removed from the cellar in the NL West. They’re 63-80. Morrow, on the other hand, is 1-0 since he joined the rotation (not like you needed reminding), and the Mariners are really bad (Again, not like you needed reminding).

Lest we forget, the two are linked at the hip since the M’s passed on the Renton-bred Lincecum for Morrow in 2006. Scouts said then that the biggest worry was Lincecum’s durability. He’s a tiny dude, and he twists his body up like a slinky during his windup. That windup had scouts worried. It’d be easy for him throw his back out of wack, but so far his extraordinary athleticism has rendered that a moot point. Morrow, on the other hand, with a more traditional delivery, seemed the safe bet in 2006. So far, I’d say the durability issue is a wash, although it could crop up again in the future. Morrow has struggled with back spasms before and scouts say that if Lincecum changes his delivery one iota, he could be in for trouble. With that issue gone, the only thing that matters is performance.

Earlier this year, I was convinced that Morrow's true role was that of a closer. He relied heavily on his fastball; 76 percent of his pitches were heaters. When opponents managed to place a bat on them, the result was usually fly balls. This might be alright when he’s closing but if he were to get in a bases loaded jam in, say, the fifth inning, it decreases the possibility of a double play.

That whole argument went away Friday night. Morrow’s pitches were only 58 percent fastballs and as the game wore on, he showed a willingness to rely on his off speed stuff, something he hadn't been apt to do a few months ago. His curve too, was filthy Much like Tiny Tim's. One game does not a career make, but against a power hitting team like the Yankees, he couldn’t have pitched better. Lincecum too, has had precious few blemishes. So at this point, it would be tough to make a decision based on numbers. This brings us back to the durability issue. And, because of Lincecum’s size, Morrow’s probably the better pick.

Your thoughts?