St. Louis Post-Dispatch
March 13, 2002

Morris Gets Nod as Starter in Opener for Cards

By Joe Strauss

A formality anticipated since the end of last season, Cardinals manager Tony La Russa on Tuesday confirmed that Matt Morris' metamorphosis is complete.

Morris has advanced from a pitcher recovering from ligament replacement surgery to a 22-game winner to his team's opening-day starter April 1 against the Colorado Rockies.

"Matt Morris is our opening-day starter," La Russa said. "He's earned it."

La Russa affirmed his decision prior to Tuesday's 5-2 exhibition win over the Boston Red Sox and one day after Morris had thrown 4 1/3 shutout innings against the Atlanta Braves. What it lacked in suspense, the manager's announcement compensated for with symbolism.

"I've been there on opening day sitting on the bench," Morris said, "barely in uniform, knowing I'm not going to pitch the rest of the year. To be out there to start it off is going to be quite exciting."

The opening-day assignment is the final laurel given Morris for a breakthrough season that brought him a three-year, $27 million contract extension and standing as one of the league's elite arms.

Morris, who began last season slotted as the Cardinals' No. 3 starter behind Darryl Kile and Andy Benes, was 22-8 with a 3.16 earned-run average before pitching toe-to-toe against Arizona Diamondbacks co-ace Curt Schilling in the Division Playoffs. Morris finished the season as the major leagues' best pitcher at home, going 15-2 with a 1.62 ERA at Busch Stadium.

"It's a great honor," Morris said. "I appreciate it. It's not the goal you shoot for. You shoot for playoff time when they really need you. This just starts the season. But when it comes down to the wire and they want to give me the ball, that will mean a lot more."

Said pitching coach Dave Duncan: "It's an honor for anybody that the manager chooses to hand the ball to on opening day. With Matt, I think the way that he matured last season emotionally and as a pitcher, he'll probably make less of it than the rest of us make of it."

The pitcher wasted little time proving his coach correct.

"I was going to pitch one of those games eventually," Morris said in downplaying it. "I'm definitely grateful and honored to be there, given the personnel we have. From where I was two or three years ago, this is night and day. These are tremendous strides in a short amount of time."

La Russa withheld the identity of his starting pitchers for the season's second and third games but projected Woody Williams as his starter against the Houston Astros in the Redbirds' April 5 road opener.

Barring any setback in his return from offseason shoulder surgery, Kile probably will be slotted into the fifth slot, positioning Williams, Kile and Morris to face last season's co-division champions on the schedule's first weekend.

"We're in a situation where we have three guys who could have gotten the ball opening day," La Russa said. "Woody's gotten the assignment before and could handle it. Darryl would have been considered except we h ad to push him back and try to get him an extra [exhibition] start that way. To have a guy like Matt is nice stuff."

Less obvious is who will assume the second and third spots in the rotation.

The likelihood of lefthander Rick Ankiel being ready by opening day decreases each day, leaving Garrett Stephenson, Andy Benes and Bud Smith competing for two spots.

Smith, 6-3 with a no-hitter in his rookie season, is the only one of the three with options remaining, a key consideration should Stephenson con tinue to prove himself sound less than a year after undergoing elbow ligament replacement surgery. La Russa already has stated Benes makes the staff in case of ties. So far, Benes has impressed the club with more consistent mechanics and better command than he demonstrated during his seasonlong struggle last year.