Matt Morris: This year Vs. Last Year

[wolf stansson]

This last offseason saw more malcontent and criticism from Cardinals fans than any I can ever remember. Having such a successful season end the way it did was anti-climactic to say the least. That ending led to endless speculation as to the competency of Cardinals management, coaching, ownership, and players. We need an ace...Tony is the werst managir evar to manaj a basebol teem...ALBERT POOJOLZ IZ THE ONLEE PLAYIR TO KEEP CUZ WE GOT SWEPT AND LALOSER IS GAY BUT ONE TIME WHITEY HERZOG WON A CHAMPEEONCHIP AND WALT DOES NOT DOO A GOOD JOB...

 

You get the point.

 

Even after all the speculation of trade scenarios to land an ace, the perceived instability at catcher, and the Edgar Renteria saga, no player was criticized, speculated upon, or considered "done" more than Matt Morris. Even the most optimistic supporters of Morris couldn't have predicted the amount of success he has had so far this season. After offseason shoulder surgery landed him on the DL until April 20th, no one really expected him to be anything more than a shadow of his former 2001-2003 self. At this point last season, Morris had gave up 24 bombs and 110 hits in 117 2/3 innings over 17 starts. He walked 32 and struck out 72. In 15 starts this season, Morris has struck out 70, walked 16, given up six home runs, and pitched 96 2/3 innings. He has allowed only one home run in his last 57 innings. Obviously, he has pitched very well.

 

There is no question that he had been pitching with a torn labrum all last season. The pain caused him to lower his arm slot which decreased his velocity and took some of the sharpness off his curve. Pitching through pain showed the heart and toughness he has. To come back this year on a one year, cheap, and incentive laden contract shows some pride and loyalty to the organization. The question is, as an outsider, what do the Cub fans think of his performance this year, and do you think the Cardinals should make him their number one offseason priority? What kind of contract would you give him?

 

Discuss.

[scs_paradise]

This last offseason saw more malcontent and criticism from Cardinals fans than any I can ever remember. Having such a successful season end the way it did was anti-climactic to say the least. That ending led to endless speculation as to the competency of Cardinals management, coaching, ownership, and players. We need an ace...Tony is the werst managir evar to manaj a basebol teem...ALBERT POOJOLZ IZ THE ONLEE PLAYIR TO KEEP CUZ WE GOT SWEPT AND LALOSER IS GAY BUT ONE TIME WHITEY HERZOG WON A CHAMPEEONCHIP AND WALT DOES NOT DOO A GOOD JOB...

 

You get the point.

 

Even after all the speculation of trade scenarios to land an ace, the perceived instability at catcher, and the Edgar Renteria saga, no player was criticized, speculated upon, or considered "done" more than Matt Morris. Even the most optimistic supporters of Morris couldn't have predicted the amount of success he has had so far this season. After offseason shoulder surgery landed him on the DL until April 20th, no one really expected him to be anything more than a shadow of his former 2001-2003 self. At this point last season, Morris had gave up 24 bombs and 110 hits in 117 2/3 innings over 17 starts. He walked 32 and struck out 72. In 15 starts this season, Morris has struck out 70, walked 16, given up six home runs, and pitched 96 2/3 innings. He has allowed only one home run in his last 57 innings. Obviously, he has pitched very well.

 

There is no question that he had been pitching with a torn labrum all last season. The pain caused him to lower his arm slot which decreased his velocity and took some of the sharpness off his curve. Pitching through pain showed the heart and toughness he has. To come back this year on a one year, cheap, and incentive laden contract shows some pride and loyalty to the organization. The question is, as an outsider, what do the Cub fans think of his performance this year, and do you think the Cardinals should make him their number one offseason priority? What kind of contract would you give him?

 

Discuss.

 

While I will say that Morris has pitched well, only 1 of his wins comes against a team that was above .500 at the time that STL played them (Jun 6 against BOS), of the four teams that were above .500 when they played STL the cardinals lost three of those games (LA, SD, ATL) so is he really having that great of a season or just beating up on the weaker teams?

[vaball]

This last offseason saw more malcontent and criticism from Cardinals fans than any I can ever remember. Having such a successful season end the way it did was anti-climactic to say the least. That ending led to endless speculation as to the competency of Cardinals management, coaching, ownership, and players. We need an ace...Tony is the werst managir evar to manaj a basebol teem...ALBERT POOJOLZ IZ THE ONLEE PLAYIR TO KEEP CUZ WE GOT SWEPT AND LALOSER IS GAY BUT ONE TIME WHITEY HERZOG WON A CHAMPEEONCHIP AND WALT DOES NOT DOO A GOOD JOB...

 

You get the point.

 

Even after all the speculation of trade scenarios to land an ace, the perceived instability at catcher, and the Edgar Renteria saga, no player was criticized, speculated upon, or considered "done" more than Matt Morris. Even the most optimistic supporters of Morris couldn't have predicted the amount of success he has had so far this season. After offseason shoulder surgery landed him on the DL until April 20th, no one really expected him to be anything more than a shadow of his former 2001-2003 self. At this point last season, Morris had gave up 24 bombs and 110 hits in 117 2/3 innings over 17 starts. He walked 32 and struck out 72. In 15 starts this season, Morris has struck out 70, walked 16, given up six home runs, and pitched 96 2/3 innings. He has allowed only one home run in his last 57 innings. Obviously, he has pitched very well.

 

There is no question that he had been pitching with a torn labrum all last season. The pain caused him to lower his arm slot which decreased his velocity and took some of the sharpness off his curve. Pitching through pain showed the heart and toughness he has. To come back this year on a one year, cheap, and incentive laden contract shows some pride and loyalty to the organization. The question is, as an outsider, what do the Cub fans think of his performance this year, and do you think the Cardinals should make him their number one offseason priority? What kind of contract would you give him?

 

Discuss.

 

While I will say that Morris has pitched well, only 1 of his wins comes against a team that was above .500 at the time that STL played them (Jun 6 against BOS), of the four teams that were above .500 when they played STL the cardinals lost three of those games (LA, SD, ATL) so is he really having that great of a season or just beating up on the weaker teams?

 

In that game against Atlanta he gave up 1 ER through 6 and in the game against SD he gave up 2 ER through 7. He has been very good against just about everyone, not just weak teams.

 

Remember your vow Truffle? Are you starting to get worried?

[Jimy is a misspell]

I'll be honest, I thought he was pretty much done.

[vaball]

If we end up trading Wainright or Reyes or both for an outfielder this season I say that Walt definitely needs to resign Morris.

[wolf stansson]

I'd like to sign him to a 4 year deal for around 32 million. That would be ideal. I absolutely want him to end his career in the Cardinals uniform.

[TruffleShuffle]

Remember your vow Truffle? Are you starting to get worried?

 

I don't remember my vow, but whatever it was I'm not worried.

 

I'd also love for the Cards to sign Morris for $32M over 4 years, and I'd be happy about it for a different reason than Cardinal fans would be.

[scs_paradise]

In that game against Atlanta he gave up 1 ER through 6 and in the game against SD he gave up 2 ER through 7. He has been very good against just about everyone, not just weak teams.

 

Remember your vow Truffle? Are you starting to get worried?

 

but he didn't get the win. isn't that the name of the game, not pitching well but winning? Like I said of all his starts only 4 were against +.500 teams of those 4 games the cards lost 3, he has been pitching well but can he lead his team to a win against good teams?

 

Speaking of only 4 teams above .500, is it me or does that speak to the incredibly weak schedule the cards have had this year? I know I'm a little biased but still correcting for that it seems we're always playing the Braves while the cards are playing ARI, PIT, CIN, TB, COL....

[ManEatingTarp]

In that game against Atlanta he gave up 1 ER through 6 and in the game against SD he gave up 2 ER through 7. He has been very good against just about everyone, not just weak teams.

 

Remember your vow Truffle? Are you starting to get worried?

 

but he didn't get the win. isn't that the name of the game, not pitching well but winning? Like I said of all his starts only 4 were against +.500 teams of those 4 games the cards lost 3, he has been pitching well but can he lead his team to a win against good teams?

 

Speaking of only 4 teams above .500, is it me or does that speak to the incredibly weak schedule the cards have had this year? I know I'm a little biased but still correcting for that it seems we're always playing the Braves while the cards are playing ARI, PIT, CIN, TB, COL....

 

I agree that wins are the bottom line. Giving your team a chance to win is what matters most for a pitcher IMO. I'm sure the statheads will argue with me.

Including the Cards, there are only 6 teams in the NL with +.500 records. None of those are in the Central where the Cards play the majority of thier games.

It's hard to say that a schedule has been weak for one team and not another after 82 games into the season. There are a hundred ways to examine a schedule. Everything from home and away, interleague (of course), who is hurt when you play them etc. One of my favorites is pointing out that playing a team like the Pirates before the fire sale is a lot tougher than playing them in the last month of the season when they've packed it in.

[indifferent]

Which brings up the next question, why is the NL so atrocious? And how is it even possible to have only six teams above .500 in a 16 team league? Attribute it to parity? That there's no really great teams and no really horrible teams?

[indifferent]

For comparison's purposes, the AL has 9 teams out of 15 that are plus .500. The NL has 6 out of 16.

[vaball]

Remember your vow Truffle? Are you starting to get worried?

 

I don't remember my vow, but whatever it was I'm not worried.

 

I'd also love for the Cards to sign Morris for $32M over 4 years, and I'd be happy about it for a different reason than Cardinal fans would be.

 

It was something like, "If Morris does better than 22 wins and a 3.16 ERA I will call myself an idiot 100 times in this thread."

 

This was in response to my predictions that Morris would have a near-career year.

[XZero771679666304]

Remember your vow Truffle? Are you starting to get worried?

 

I don't remember my vow, but whatever it was I'm not worried.

 

I'd also love for the Cards to sign Morris for $32M over 4 years, and I'd be happy about it for a different reason than Cardinal fans would be.

 

It was something like, "If Morris does better than 22 wins and a 3.16 ERA I will call myself an idiot 100 times in this thread."

 

This was in response to my predictions that Morris would have a near-career year.

 

Even if he continues his pace, which I doubt he will, Morris will have fewer wins and a higher ERA. I wouldn't be concerned if I were Truffle.

 

Also, I doubt he continues to get 6.8 runs of support per game. He has more wins than he should.

[scs_paradise]

Which brings up the next question, why is the NL so atrocious? And how is it even possible to have only six teams above .500 in a 16 team league? Attribute it to parity? That there's no really great teams and no really horrible teams?

 

I would say its more evidence of lack of parity. In order to have only 6 teams over 500 means those six teams are killing everyone else. I would contend there are 4 really good teams and the rest are all just soooo bad, seriously the giants are closer to winning the WC than the cubs are to catching STL, that is just horrible....

[scs_paradise]

just a side note, the cards have the lowest strength of schedule in the LEAGUE!!!!!!!!!

 

.476

 

while the cubs have a

 

.502

 

when it rains it pours.....

[vaball]

Remember your vow Truffle? Are you starting to get worried?

 

I don't remember my vow, but whatever it was I'm not worried.

 

I'd also love for the Cards to sign Morris for $32M over 4 years, and I'd be happy about it for a different reason than Cardinal fans would be.

 

It was something like, "If Morris does better than 22 wins and a 3.16 ERA I will call myself an idiot 100 times in this thread."

 

This was in response to my predictions that Morris would have a near-career year.

 

Even if he continues his pace, which I doubt he will, Morris will have fewer wins and a higher ERA. I wouldn't be concerned if I were Truffle.

 

Also, I doubt he continues to get 6.8 runs of support per game. He has more wins than he should.

 

Yeah, he probably won't beat those numbers, but he might get close. In which case Truffle will be right but I will claim a moral victory.

 

I don't think he has more wins than he should. There's been a few games where the offense has bailed him out, and a few where it's let him down. I think he's right about where he deserves to be.

[ltb]

prospectus has a nice little stat of the day on the front page today...

 

morris is the 2nd luckiest starter in the NL (mulder is 4th) with a luck factor of 7.01 and an expected record of 5.6-4.6

[ManEatingTarp]

prospectus has a nice little stat of the day on the front page today...

 

morris is the 2nd luckiest starter in the NL (mulder is 4th) with a luck factor of 7.01 and an expected record of 5.6-4.6

 

They got lucky when they became Cardinals. ;)

[Catman61]

just a side note, the cards have the lowest strength of schedule in the LEAGUE!!!!!!!!!

 

.476

 

while the cubs have a

 

.502

 

when it rains it pours.....

 

Well, the Cardinals don't have 16 games vs an opponent with a .634 win%. Substitute 16 games with a .634 opponent for 16 games with a .494 opponent and see what that does to your SOS.

 

The Cardinals play 80 games in the NL Central where currently they are the only team at or over .500 and the Cubs play 79 games where 63 games are vs sub .500 teams and 16 are vs the best record in the NL.

 

Other than the 6 games the Cubs played he ChiSox (and tell me you expected them to have the best record in baseball) and the Cards 3/3 with TB/KC the schedules are pretty similar although most of those differences are not in the Cubs favor

Cubs have

+2 with FLA

+1 with ATL

+1 with SF

-1 with CIN

-1 with LA

-1 with NYM

-1 with COL

[fiver]

This last offseason saw more malcontent and criticism from Cardinals fans than any I can ever remember. Having such a successful season end the way it did was anti-climactic to say the least. That ending led to endless speculation as to the competency of Cardinals management, coaching, ownership, and players. We need an ace...Tony is the werst managir evar to manaj a basebol teem...ALBERT POOJOLZ IZ THE ONLEE PLAYIR TO KEEP CUZ WE GOT SWEPT AND LALOSER IS GAY BUT ONE TIME WHITEY HERZOG WON A CHAMPEEONCHIP AND WALT DOES NOT DOO A GOOD JOB...

 

You get the point.

 

Even after all the speculation of trade scenarios to land an ace, the perceived instability at catcher, and the Edgar Renteria saga, no player was criticized, speculated upon, or considered "done" more than Matt Morris. Even the most optimistic supporters of Morris couldn't have predicted the amount of success he has had so far this season. After offseason shoulder surgery landed him on the DL until April 20th, no one really expected him to be anything more than a shadow of his former 2001-2003 self. At this point last season, Morris had gave up 24 bombs and 110 hits in 117 2/3 innings over 17 starts. He walked 32 and struck out 72. In 15 starts this season, Morris has struck out 70, walked 16, given up six home runs, and pitched 96 2/3 innings. He has allowed only one home run in his last 57 innings. Obviously, he has pitched very well.

 

There is no question that he had been pitching with a torn labrum all last season. The pain caused him to lower his arm slot which decreased his velocity and took some of the sharpness off his curve. Pitching through pain showed the heart and toughness he has. To come back this year on a one year, cheap, and incentive laden contract shows some pride and loyalty to the organization. The question is, as an outsider, what do the Cub fans think of his performance this year, and do you think the Cardinals should make him their number one offseason priority? What kind of contract would you give him?

 

Discuss.

 

Wolf..

 

As you can see, it is fairly difficult for most Cubs fans to praise Morris. However, I'll give credit where it is due. Morris may be lucky this year, but has pitched very nicely for your Cards. He has a nack for getting people out when he needs to, and you don't see him walking batters and then giving up a homerun immediatly afterwards very often (see Kerry Wood)....actually, you can modify that previous statement to just state that he doesn't walk many batters in any situation.

 

Someone had mentioned 4 years at 32 mil for a proposed contract this offseason. My understanding is that he'll get more than that amount if his WHIP stays around 1.10, his ERA around 3, and he wins somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 games.

[Catman61]

prospectus has a nice little stat of the day on the front page today...

 

morris is the 2nd luckiest starter in the NL (mulder is 4th) with a luck factor of 7.01 and an expected record of 5.6-4.6

Don't you mean an expected record of 6.2-4.7? (must have been updated since you posted as it lists Morris' luck factor at 7.49 now)

 

Greg Maddux also ranks in the top 10 in luck with an expected record of 5.2-6.7 which is basically the reverse of his actual 7-5 record.

Might have something to do with his top 5 RS in the NL.

 

 

If you use Game Scores, Morris has 2 cheap wins, 1 ND that should have been a loss and 3 ND that should have been wins

[indifferent]

This luck factor is impossible for Cards fans to refute, so I won't bother. The schedule is out of our control (although Catman's point is a good one when you take having to play the Cards out of the mix of the heavy NL Central schedule). The fact that Morris gets run support is a part of how our team is constructed and I won't apologize for that either. Isolated run support is no reason to degrade a pitcher, especially if he doesn't need it. I can't think of one team who wouldn't take a pitcher as their one or two starter with a 3.17 ERA, 1.1 WHIP, 70 Ks, and 16 BBs. Ironically, the starter on our team in need of the most run support, Suppan, has received the lowest.

[YearofDaCubs]

What velocity does Morris currently have on his fastball? What was it in 2003?

[vaball]

What velocity does Morris currently have on his fastball? What was it in 2003?

 

Off the top of my head he's been able to throw it pretty consistenly around 93 this season, occasionaly hitting 95 or so. Last season, 2004, he was lucky to throw one 90.

 

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong this is just my general impression.

[imb]

power of the beard man.

 

i grew one on a whim in the fall, it was awesome and everyone loved it.