Stlcardinals.com
March 11, 2001

Morris Feels Great, Pitches Well and Discusses His Comeback With stlcardinals.com

By Derek Glanz

The Cardinals are still hopeful that Matt Morris will blossom into the team's number one starter. He is a home-grown product who was on the brink of stardom just three years ago when a torn elbow ligament sidelined him for 20 months.

A lean athlete with a hard fastball he locates well and a controlled demeanor, the 26-year-old Morris is still one of the best young pitchers in the National League. Gary Sheffield recently commented that Morris looked like he had his old nasty stuff.

In 1997, Morris posted an ERA of 3.19. The following season, he was the Cardinals best starter for the first half of the season, allowing a scanty 2.53 runs per nine innings.

But elbow problems forced Morris into Tommy John Surgery. Last season, the Cardinals were careful with Morris, limiting him to 31 relief appearances and 53 innings, 33 of which he worked in the second half of the season.

A further look at last year's numbers shows an interesting split. Morris was almost unhittable on more ample rest, posting a 1.21 ERA on 3-plus days rest, and a 6.56 ERA on only one or two days' rest.

Here is what Matt Morris had to say after his second Spring Training start of 2001, in which he surrendered one run in three innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Derek Glanz: How did it go out there today?

Matt Morris: It seems like when things are going in the right direction it seems like the game is slower. When things are out of whack and you're in trouble you don't even remember making pitches. Things are speeding by you. The last year I just started to go out there and take a deep breath. The game doesn't start until the pitcher throws the ball, so it's in my control. I'm only out there every five days so there's no rush.

DG: How many innings did you have in you today?

MM: I could have gone another. I could have gone two more as long as they were quick innings, 10-15 pitch innings. I wanted to go another one, but they didn't want me to hit. They thought it was dangerous. Not offensively dangerous, just straight dangerous.

Associated Press: Sheffield said you looked like you were never hurt.

MM: It's a compliment. Wow. It's been almost a few years. That's what I'm trying to get back to. Keeping my poise and making good pitches and being out there every five days is my goal right now. If I can pick up the ball every five days and throw five, six, seven innings, I'll be happy.

DG: Did you learn anything as a reliever?

MM: I realized I didn't have to take as much time to warm up. In the bullpen, when the phone rings you can't run out on the field and long toss and stretch and think about everything. You have to get up and start throwing. I think today I really factored that in. Usually I go out to the pen and try to throw until I feel like I'm throwing a hundred percent - full velocity - so I get into the game at full strength. [Having worked in the bullpen] I realize I don't need to do that. In the pen I just need to loosen up. You can throw a no-hitter in the pen all day and it doesn't count. So I'm just going to use the pen to get loose and save as many balls as I can until I get out there.

DG: Did you have a good curve today?

MM: Yes, I did. I just found my release point. It's a different type of curve now, it's a lot harder. It's along the lines of a slider. And I was trying to get away from too much hard stuff - hard sliders and hard fastballs. Those guys looking at fastballs with slider bat speed can hit that slider, so that's why I always liked the curve ball. In '97 that's what I threw, the big overhand curve. I can't seem to find the groove to that, that arm slot, so I just started throwing the slurve, slider, late breaker.

DG: Is that what you were working on with Dave Duncan on the practice mound on Friday?

MM: Yeah, the overhand curve. I can throw it, but I just can't repeat it. I'm not doing the right things mechanically to execute that pitch. It's got a good break, but there's something I'm doing that the batter sees, so I threw mostly sliders today. My concern is that everything is hard, hard, hard, with the slider. That's why I have to incorporate the change-up in there. That's the biggest thing I worked on in the offseason, besides mechanics and conditioning, was my change-up. You always have it and everybody always knows how to hold it and how to throw it, but to be able to throw it in situations when you need it, full count for example, is the goal. I'm happy with the progress so far.

DG: Will you continue to work on the overhand curve?

MM: I am, but I'm not so worried about it now that I can execute this harder breaking ball, I'm not as worried. I try to get it right at home in the mirror, you know, but it's still going to take some work. Probably the best thing would be to just forget about it and it'll come back. I don't need that pitch but it would be a nice weapon.

DG: Are you excited about your health?

MM: Yeah. It's refreshing to come to the park everyday and not have to go to the training room everyday and work on your arm strength everyday and not have to worry about how your elbow's coming along and doing all the drills and that stuff.

DG: I've heard stories about guys coming back from Tommy John Surgery throwing harder and straighter. Does that apply to you?

MM: I heard all that stuff, too, when I was going through it and it's comforting to hear stuff like that. I don't know about straighter, it's the first I heard of that, that's the first I heard of that. The ligament's bigger. I would just like to be able to look in the mirror and say, 'I did my job today.' I'm happy with how my arm came back after surgery and the whole time in between, it should all benefit me in one way or another whether I liked it or not.

DG: Have you talked to [Garret] Stephenson about his elbow?

MM: I've tried to talk to him. He's at the point now where he's just going out and testing it out. He's going to go after it, which he should. He should go after it and if it's hurting it's hurting. If he needs the surgery, get the surgery, but if not, then take the month and see if it hurts. If not, it's not worth going through that surgery. You hope that you're healed up and ready, but that's twenty months away. I don't think he realizes that yet.

DG: Why did it happen to you?

MM: It was a tear. There's no telling how it happened. They say it's over a period of time. You've seen pictures of guys with their arms all contorted this way and it come whipping through and you just put so much stress on it. You drop your elbow, too. I remember one year working on my change-up and dropping my elbow, didn't have my mechanics right, and felt a little something. I don't know if that was the cause of everything, but it definitely was not a good pitch. Dropping your elbow puts a lot more stress on that ligament. People say it's wear and tear, sometimes it's a one shot deal. I never had a problem before that.

DG: What do you do to prevent it from happening again?

MM: I came in to Spring Training in '98 and said I had some shoulder pain and they said just keep your shoulder strong, so I just kept everything really strong. But you can't strengthen the ligaments or the tendons. You can build up the muscles and everything around it to stabilize it. It's luck I guess. The recurrence of these is two, three percent. My elbow was just tightened the other day and the trainer said, 'Don't worry, it's not going to happen again.' But it's there and the truth is already instilled, so we'll see. Hope for the best.