Charlie Morton vs. St. Louis Cardinals Recap

Last year, Charlie Morton was one of Major League Baseball's worst pitchers.  His fastball was flat, up in the zone, and usually out of the park.  In 17 starts, Morton went 2-12 with a 7.57 ERA before being demoted to AAA where he continued to struggle.  It appeared Morton's career was over until he worked with new pitching coach Ray Searage who suggested dropping his arm slot down to three-quarters.  



The results were tremendous in Spring Training when Morton posted a 2-0 record with a 2.63 ERA.  By changing his arm slot, Morton was able to get a ton of movement on his fastball and resurrect his sinker and, quite possibly, his career.  


Last night, Morton showed all Pirates fans and a few steamed Cardinals fans that he is can still compete.


In the first three innings, Charlie Morton threw 31 pitches of which 28 were fastballs.  Not only was he aggressive, but the combination of velocity (topped 96 mph) and movement led to a lot of ground balls.  Albert Pujols, the biggest Pirate killer in the league, looked overpowered by Morton's fastball at times.  Pujols finished 0-3 against Morton seeing 6 pitches, all fastballs, all ground outs to third baseman Pedro Alvarez.  On his last at-bat against Morton, Pujols ended the inning when he shattered his bat on a 92 mph fastball, stranding two runners.

The only thing Charlie Morton struggled with was his control.  He walked 5 batters over 6 innings and, at times, was rather erratic.  With the amount of movement on his fastballs, Morton has a little more leeway to miss his spots.  But the pitches that miss the zone entirely will eventually catch up to him.  Nevertheless, Morton had a strong outing, allowing only 1 run in 6 complete innings.  He earned his first win of the season, a win that eluded him for over a month into last season.  


As I stated in the season preview, the starting pitchers will be the deciding factor in this season.  So far, four starters have turned in quality starts with James McDonald, arguably the most talented in the rotation, making his first start tonight.  If the pitchers can continue to keep games close, they could win more ballgames than expected.  


written by Jon Pennline