Charlie Morton
Charlie Morton was the Braves’ game 1 starting pitcher in the World Series just last year. That’s how important he was to the pitching staff last year.
This year he has dropped on the pecking order, thanks to the emergence of Spencer Strider and Kyle Wright, but also because Charlie is not having nearly as good of a season as he did last year.
It is possible he is just having somewhat of a down year, but he is 38 and will turn 39 right after the World Series ends. You have to wonder if his age is finally catching up with him.
He has shown flashes of the 2021 pitcher that the Braves relied on to open the World Series, namely a handful of starts where he threw 7 innings. However, his consistency has waned significantly, leading to the 4.09 ERA he has over the 2022 season, which is over .7 ERA points above his 3.34 ERA last season.
One concerning stat for Morton this year is his number of quality starts in 2022 versus 2021. In 2021 Morton had an incredible 19 quality starts. He has only 9 quality starts in 2022, another indicator that he might be losing his juice.
Morton’s velocity is still pretty consistent with what it has been last year, a good indicator for a pitcher of his age. His effectiveness against batters has experienced a bit of a downtick.
Morton is by no means having a bad season, but it’s closer to average than good, which is a concern for a pitcher pushing 40.
With the young starting pitching talent the Braves have such as Bryce Elder and Kyle Muller, the incentive to keep Morton as opposed to one of their young prospects decreases.
This is why a strong postseason performance from Morton could prove to both fans of the team but also the coaching staff that Father Time has not caught up with Charlie just yet.
Morton looked great in the playoffs last year for the Braves. If he can continue that great performance into this postseason, he can prove he has plenty left in the tank.