there are many examples of successful pitchers would would never have passed Dave’s 5 Point Checklist.

And those examples would be??

Part of my hopes for Brandon is that he’s improved since the beginning and end of 2007 with his work since. But coming up with a changeup in that short span of time is not likely. Throwing a pitch itself is fairly easy once you know how to hold the ball. The trick is getting the pitch to do what you want. I can throw a fastball, slider, changeup, curve, splitfinger, knucklball, and screwball… but I can’t throw any of them for decent velocity / movement nor can I throw them for strikes and /or put them where I want to (command them).

If Morrow were to add a changeup it would probably take an entire season training his body to throw it the way he wants to.

Basic Summary – the 5 points in The Checklist are arbitrary, there are exceptions to every rule, we have more than 1 season of Brandon Morrow with which to evaluate him, there are many examples of successful pitchers would would never have passed Dave’s 5 Point Checklist.

I do think the discussion could be moved forward with a list of successful pitchers potentially fitting this assertion though….

Basic Summary – the 5 points in The Checklist are arbitrary, there are exceptions to every rule, we have more than 1 season of Brandon Morrow with which to evaluate him, there are many examples of successful pitchers would would never have passed Dave’s 5 Point Checklist.

THis is crap.

I expect better.

Try again. And give an honest attempt next time, instead of this half assed effort. Its obvious you ARENT’ thinking this through.

It’s clear Brandon Morrow has no problems bowling over minor league level competition

Given that he’s spent so little time in the minors as a starter, it is NOT clear.

Are you sure you’re thinking this through?

As for the sentence of mine, I have no idea what it means either, ha. I appear to have changed thoughts mid-sentence in that case.

Take “Command your fastball”, for instance. There is more than just command or no command. In Brandon Morrow’s case, I would say he is effectively wild. And with a FB as electric as his, that’s a good thing. He knows it’s gonna be near the strikezone, but not exactly where. Thing is, the hitter knows he’s effectively wild too, and the hitters reacted accordingly all year long. The hitters KNEW the FB was coming, and still couldn’t touch it. If that’s not commanding the fastball, I’m not sure what is. Just because Brandon Morrow doesn’t fit into the one mold you’ve got on the shelf, that doesn’t mean you throw everything out. Taking into account Brandon’s entire repertoire, it looks as though he vastly improved his overall command in the second half of the season. His BB/9 was nearly half of what it was in the first half. His “meaningless” winter ball stats support this as well. Brandon Morrow is getting much better at throwing strikes.

Yikes and wowsers. A 12.5% BBrate in his final 30 innings is an example of improved control and being effectively wild? I think all his final 30 innings prove is Dave’s counter argument. In season “trends” are meaningless. Basically, Morrow’s true command isn’t as bad as 9.3 BB/9 (pre all-star rate) and his 4.93 BB/9 in the second half was the result of the mean tugging on his counting stats rather than strides in his command. Lets face it, his command stunk no matter how you sliced his season. It stunk in college and it still stinks.

Taking into account Brandon’s entire repertoire, it looks as though he vastly improved his overall command in the second half of the season.

I have no idea what this means. When considering that he throws a fastball, splitter, and split finger it’s apparent his command improved? As an argument, it’s lacking….