Brandon Morrow is actually excited about his demotion to Triple-A Tacoma.

That's because the Mariners are going to have the young fireballer stretch out his arm so he can become a starter.

The righty will join the left-handed Aussie Ryan Rowland-Smith in Tacoma in hopes of returning to the big league club in a new role. The plan for Morrow is to throw 35 pitches in his first outing, then increase the number by 15 pitches per start. The Mariners wont expect Morrow to throw complete games for them anytime soon, but they hope he can make it through 5 innings. The most pitches hes thrown in an outing this year is just over 30.

Morrow was used as both a starter and reliever in college, but he has never come close to the number of innings he will throw as a starter in the majors. The fear is that he will get overworked and become injury-prone.

Many pitchers have started their major league careers as relievers then were transitioned to starters. Some notable players are Johan Santana and more recently Joba Chamberlain. If Morrow is anywhere near as dominant as a starter as he was as a setup man, the M's would be thrilled.

Morrow has been the Mariners most reliable reliever this season, with a miniscule 1.47 ERA and 47 strikeouts in 36.2 innings.

If the transition is successful, Morrow would join Felix Hernandez and Erik Bedard to create a formidable trio, with Jarrod Washburn and Rowland-Smith as a strong back of the rotation.

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