St. Louis Post-Dispatch
July 1, 2003

Morris Skips Turn, Will Work on Delivery

By Joe Strauss

Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said before Monday's opener against the San Francisco Giants he wasn't interested in finding a hero to end June. He'd prefer to have Matt Morris start in September.

Instead of making his 18th start, Morris watched Danny Haren take his turn against the defending National League champions at Busch Stadium. All parties described the move as an attempt to fix Morris' out-of-kilter mechanics rather than an attempt to shelter a sore right shoulder.

"We diagnosed the problem and figured out what that was so we decided to see how it is in the next week. It can only help," Morris said.

La Russa said he expects Morris will take the ball Saturday against the Chicago Cubs but stopped short of guaranteeing it.

"He feels much better and said he could pitch if we wanted him to," La Russa said. "But common sense says to back him off and let him work on it. If his delivery is not good, he'd probably get sore again."

Morris conceded that concerns about his shoulder may have affected his delivery. Now he says the task is to re-learn proper mechanics.

"When I'm out there just pitching, I don't think about those things and they just fall into place," Morris said. "But as soon as there's a problem, you start trying to fix it and start to compound it."

Morris worked on his delivery in the bullpen before Monday's game. He has thrown in front of a mirror and watched tape with pitching coach Dave Duncan, who believes Morris is "cutting off" his delivery rather than fully extending through his pitches. The results have been diminished velocity, a rolling curveball and dull command.

Morris ended the month with a 2-2 record and an 8.13 ERA in his last five starts, including a 33-pitch, two-out appearance against the New York Yankees on June 14 and a six-inning, 90-pitch win over the Cincinnati Reds last Wednesday. Statistically it was Morris' worst month since his return from elbow surgery in 2000.

La Russa said he is less concerned about Morris' right shoulder now than before his June 14 start. Morris had complained about a "knot" in the area.