Diabetes in the Mariners' bullpen

By now, most people know that Mariners pitcher Bradon Morrow switched from starter to reliever to help him better manage his diabetes. Well, it turns out that Morrow's condition helped fellow reliever Mark Lowe realize he, too, was suffering from diabetes.

The Mariners may soon become baseball experts in the disease that affects about one in 12 Americans. Fellow reliever Mark Lowe was diagnosed as well.

After attempting last season to manage his blood sugar with diet and oral meds, Lowe was re-diagnosed as a Type I (juvenile onset) diabetic instead of a Type II (adult onset) and recently began insulin shots.

"I know it did affect me last year," Lowe, who began his major league career with a franchise-record 17 2/3 scoreless innings over 13 games, told the News Tribune. "I would come in some days and be dragging. Some days in the middle of the day I would hit a wall. Some days it was so high that my vision was blurry."

With proper training and medical monitoring, there is little reason to think that Lowe and Morrow won't continue to be productive relief pitchers, although Armstrong mentioned that diabetics "can be a little slower to come back from some injuries and inflammation, which is why (Morrow) is suited to pitch in shorter stints than longer ones where the chance of injury is a little greater."

Lowe is likely to set up Morrow this season in Seattle. Morrow's move to the bullpen denies the Mariners myriad closer candidates of actually landing the job. He's a bonafide star in the making in that role.