St. Louis Post-Dispatch
June 6, 2002

Morris Knows Expectations are Heightened

By Joe Strauss

Matt Morris finds himself graded more harshly this season.

After an All-Star season in which he won 22 games and established himself as one of the National League's elite arms, Morris now finds each of his starts scrutinized to a much higher degree. As manager Tony La Russa and pitching coach Dave Duncan decide to give him an extra day's rest before his next two starts, Morris acknowledges this season has been a grind.

Bothered by fleeting mechanics and challenged by a league's heightened respect, Morris will face the Kansas City Royals in his next two starts because of problems many would love to shoulder.

Morris is 7-4 with a 3.45 ERA and has pitched 86 innings in 13 starts.

"Last year the ball just came out of my hand perfectly. The balls I've been throwing up there 88 mph - hey, 88 can get an out, too - it feels like I'm putting so much effort into it. And they're not even moving the right way," Morris said.

Morris put himself through an extended bullpen session before Wednesday night's game against the Cincinnati Reds was rained out at Cinergy Field. The game will be played as part of an August 27 doubleheader, though game times have yet to be announced.

Morris has dealt with slightly diminished velocity and noticeably less consistent command recently.

"I've been trying to get the ball there, looking at the results instead of figuring out what it takes to get it there ... or just turning it over to my ability and not thinking at all," he said.

His stomach has betrayed him, his thumb has been rubbed raw and he has worked his two highest pitch-count games since undergoing ligament replacement surgery in 1999. La Russa and Duncan have noted his recent struggles to reach the seventh inning and decided to adopt a cautious approach.

"I think later in the year it will help me. But I don't think it's going to change anything," Morris downplayed.

Morris used 128 and 118 pitches to beat the Cubs in consecutive starts May 8 and May 13 and hasn't resembled the same pitcher since. His 4-0 win over Cubs ace Kerry Wood at Busch Stadium remains the Cardinals' only complete game this season. Coming with accusations of pitch-stealing and counterclaims of paranoia, the shutout also proved his ability to dial up a huge effort in extraordinary circumstances.

"It wasn't like he threw 136 and 145 pitches," La Russa said. "I think what's happened is what happens to hitting and pitchers. Timing has a lot to do with it. Timing has a lot to do with your rhythm. When you start getting apprehensive about it, you start forcing it. You're out there nice and flowing then all of a sudden you're thinking about something else.

"One week you see him against the Cubs and it's nice and easy. The next time you see him you say, 'Who's this guy? It's different.'"

One reason for his odd lines of late was a stomach virus that forced him to receive an IV the night before a scheduled start. And a mysterious quirk in Morris' release has rubbed the side of his right thumb raw, literally leaving blood on the ball at times. Morris doesn't know when the habit began, but he now consistently recoils his fingers against the thumb following his release.

What he needs to change most, Morris insists, is his approach.

"Thinking so much, trying to freeze everybody and wanting to get called strikes ... that's not my game. I've got to get my mechanics worked out and go from there," Morris said.

"Sometimes against the first batter of the game I'll get two strikes, then he works it back to a full count and gets a hit or a walk. It can change the whole outcome of the game. All of sudden they're thinking, "Hey, we've got something going.' It can make it a different story," Morris said.