Morrow’s time with Blue Jays defined by promise

Brandon Morrow. (Nathan Denette/CP)

Hours after signing a one year, $2.5 million contract with the San Diego Padres, Brandon Morrow took to Twitter to acknowledge his past. In a phone interview from his home in Phoenix, Morrow said he simply felt compelled to say thank you.

“I was there for five years, that’s a long time. Half a decade, that’s the bulk of my career,” Morrow said. “From day one the fans embraced me. I liked the people in the organization, training staff, you guys in the media were good to me. All in all it was a good experience so I wanted to say thanks.”

When you look back at Brandon Morrow’s time with the Toronto Blue Jays it really makes you think ‘if only.’

If only he had become that number one starter. If only he had completed that near-no hitter. But the one that stands out the most is if only he could have avoided the disabled list.

Morrow had some unforgettable moments in Toronto, including that one-hit, 17 strikeout performance against the Tampa Bay Rays in 2010. Yet for many, his legacy as a Blue Jay will be as a guy who just couldn’t stay healthy.

He knows there are many fans who feel he didn’t live up to the three-year, $20 million extension he signed prior to the 2012 season, and he doesn’t blame them

“You want to live up to every expectation that’s placed on you. Unfortunately, due the injuries, it was out of my hands,” Morrow said. “The last two years have been tough injury-wise and sports is a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately business. I would have liked to quote unquote, earn my money a little bit more.”

While being the first to admit he didn’t do enough to live up to his contract, he takes exception to the school of thought that he was in no rush to return to the team, knowing he’d be cashing the same cheque whether he pitched or not.

“It sucks,” he said. “It’s not fun. People don’t like to be on the DL, regardless of what some fans might think … It’s not like that.”

Morrow also wants to put to bed any theories that his injuries are related in any way to diabetes, something he’s been dealing with since his senior year in high school.

“You look at the injuries I’ve had, I don’t fatigue easily, I’m not straining muscles all the time and not recovering well,” he said. “People say all the time ‘Brandon Morrow suffers from Type 1 diabetes’ and they don’t mean anything by it, but I’m not suffering. It’s not something that holds me back”

Morrow made just six starts last season, missing four months with a torn tendon sheath in his finger. When he returned, he found himself pitching out of the bullpen, where he had some success. With the team holding a contract option for 2015, Morrow had a feeling that his starting days in Toronto were over. GM Alex Anthopoulos confirmed as much once the season ended.

“When Alex called me to say he was going to decline my option, he said if I decided to be a reliever, to give him a call, but I hadn’t come to that point yet so there was nothing to talk about,” he said.

So, for the first time in his pro career, Brandon Morrow was on the open market. He went in with no idea how it would play out. The only expectation he had was to be a part of someone’s rotation.

“There were a number of teams that called and said they’d love to have me as a reliever, if I decided to go that route, but I wasn’t ready to do that,” Morrow said. “There were also a few teams that were interested in me as a starter and the Padres were the most aggressive.”

Morrow says he’s 100 percent healthy, once again hoping for a 200-inning season and anxious for a fresh start in a pitcher-friendly park. He’s not naive. He knows, like anyone, he’s not immune to injuries, but feels this will finally be the year he spends more time on the mound than in rehab.

If only he could have done that in a Blue Jays uniform.

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