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The Baltimore Orioles' pitching staff is second-last in the entire Majors and that's a big reason the club is at the bottom of the American League East.
One of their main offseason additions was accomplished veteran starter Charlie Morton, who has enjoyed boatloads of success over the years with various teams, most recently the Atlanta Braves. However, Morton has looked like a completely different pitcher in an Orioles uniform and not in a good way.
Morton is 0-6 in seven appearances (five starts) with a 9.45 ERA. Amid his struggles, skipper Brandon Hyde said Baltimore will use Morton out of the bullpen for the time being.
Via Andy Kostka:
“In the short term, Brandon Hyde said he expects the Orioles to use Charlie Morton out of the bullpen, as he was used last night. They haven’t closed the door on him starting games in the future, but short spurts could help Morton stabilize.”
Morton pitched in relief on Tuesday night against the New York Yankees and was effective. He tossed 2.1 innings, allowing one unearned run while striking out two. Perhaps a reliever role is exactly what the 41-year-old needs right now to find his confidence again.
To put his struggles into perspective, Morton has pitched over 160 innings in each of the last two seasons and had an ERA under four. Despite being over 40, the righty can stil light up the radar gun and consistently get outs. Unfortunately, that's just not been happening lately.
One of Morton's glaring issues is control. He's issued 21 free passes in just 26.2 innings of work. That's simply not a recipe for success. At any professional level, walks are going to hurt you. But in the big leagues, that's a massive no-no.
The Orioles' rotation, outside of Tomoyuki Sugano, isn't throwing the ball well at all, and Zach Eflin still remains sidelined with a lat injury.
Baltimore needs to figure it out in a hurry or else they may put themselves in an early hole in one of the top divisions in baseball.
