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By Mike Salk

With the Mariners off today and the Rainiers in town, I figured I'd make my first pilgrimage to Cheney Stadium. It was definitely worthwhile. I love minor league baseball – it just feels very pure and the guys seem to be having a ton of fun.

Of course, coming to Tacoma also meant I had the opportunity to chat with some of the Mariners who have been up and down this year. And that list obviously starts with Brandon Morrow. His first start was Sunday in Las Vegas and the line was ugly:

4.2innings. 6 hits. 5 runs. 3 walks. 4 strikeouts.

Ouch.

That's the bad news. But the good news is that much of the damage was done in the first inning when he threw nearly 50 pitches and was one batter away from getting the hook before he settled down and pitched well from there. In fact, the game started with him throwing a walk, a fly ball out, a hit-by-pitch and another walk. Pretty ugly start.

So where was the good news?

One of the great things about Morrow being in the minors is that he can work on his pitches and further his development. Yesterday, that meant trying a new tweak to his delivery. Instead of bringing his hands together at his chest, he tried going up and over his head.

And it didn't seem to work. Morrow said he experimented with the new delivery (at the behest of Mariners pitching coach Rick Adair) but never quite felt comfortable with it. When he found himself on the ropes in that first inning, he scrapped it and went back to his comfort zone. Results followed too, as he didn't allow another run until the 5th.

So how do we interpret this? The cynic would view this as problematic. They would see a guy who is so scrambled right now that he is desperately trying to tinker with his mechanics in hopes of straightening himself out. For once, I'm not in that camp.

I see this as a positive step in the development of a true talent who has never truly been developed. Guys try new deliveries all the time in the minor leagues – away from the prying eyes of fans and media. And away from the pressure of getting out big league hitters in do-or-die situations. Did it work? No. But the experimentation tells me that Morrow is going to try everything in his power to maximize his time in the minors.

And while he's here “developing,” it was the perfect opportunity to work on commanding his off-speed pitches. Specifically, Morrow told me he worked on his curveball in his last start. He believes that the curve may be a better pitch than his slider because it gets batters out in front. Remember, it was the curve that was at the center of the debate in his last major league start when he said after the game that he didn't throw it because Kenji Johjima never called for it (and because he never shook to it).

Actually, the “shaking to it” portion of that sentence is probably too important to be left in parentheses because in many ways it is at the heart of why Morrow is in Tacoma to begin with. He needs to spend all of his concentration right now on throwing each pitch consistently. That is, he can't be spending brain energy on calling the game as well. Being able to do both is the ideal. But if he's not there right now, he needs the time in AAA to develop it.

- - -

While I was in Tacoma, I spent some time chatting with Ryan Rowland-Smith (who can be followed on Twitter @ hyphen18). RR-S pitched very well once again against Las Vegas and continues to do everything in his power to earn a call-up back to the big leagues. Personally, I thought it was coming after Garrett Olson struggled against Cleveland last week, but perhaps the team is waiting until after the trade deadline. Regardless, he is pitching well enough in Tacoma to get called up, and I have a feeling when he does get up, he is going to pitch with a chip on his shoulder. I'm looking forward to seeing it.

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