Saw in Jenifer Langosch's blog, and her story on pirates.com, about Joe Kerrigan stopping Charlie Morton from using his sinker in the following:

Morton didn't point any fingers, but he noted that he stopped throwing the sinker altogether last season. The right-hander didn't have to place the blame on anyone, though it's known that the decision to take the pitch away from Morton was Joe Kerrigan's.

And it's got me wondering 2 things:

1. Why did Kerrigan do so much tinkering around with his pitchers? Was it arrogance (since he's had earlier success with pitchers so he figures he must know all and have to his fingerprints over each pitcher)? Was he really trying to address weaknesses in guys like Brad Lincoln & Charlie Morton by altering the way they pitch or having them drop pitches from their repertoire? Or Had Kerrigan simply lost it, as in his abilities and skill level (I wondered at the time of Kerrigan's hiring when he was working as an announcer, if he was such a hot pitching coach and most teams are always looking for good pitching coaches to get the most out of their guys, why was he out of a coaching job)?

I mean, I'm definitely no coach, but these kids had enough talent doing it the way they were most comfortable and it was good enough to get them to the big leagues, why drastically alter what they do now?? I would think for pitchers the big jump from AAA to the majors is mental/situational stuff and learning the best way to get each particular hitter out. Not, completely re-learn how to pitch, completely change your delivery or take away pitches you might rely on.

2. Could Kerrigan's departure alone create a massive improvement in success of the rotation this year, thus resulting in an even greater increase in Pirates wins than we might otherwise think? Even if Ray Searage just lets these guys pitch to their strengths, gives them some pointers, but mostly lets them be?