Brandon Morrow

Morrow seems like a scout's dream. Owner of perhaps the best pure arm in the draft, he throws as hard as any pitcher in baseball, sitting at 96-98 mph with his fastball and occasionally reaching 99. He's a fast-twitch athlete with a quick arm and near-perfect pitcher's frame at 6-foot-3, 190 pounds. His delivery is clean and he repeats his mechanics well. Morrow's secondary pitches-a mid-80s slider and improving changeup-have flashed average to above-average potential as well. He's clearly improved over the pitcher whose ERA was 7.57 in his first two seasons, and he led the Pacific-10 Conference in ERA with two weekends to play. However, scouts still have their doubts about Morrow. His control has improved, but several scouts still question his feel for the strike zone and for pitching in general. He lacks deception in his delivery, and his secondary stuff comes and goes. Morrow was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes as a high school senior and wears an insulin pump when not on the mound. During games, he monitors his blood sugar, checking between innings to see if he needs a burst of sugar or shot of insulin. Most scouts don't consider it a major problem.