After a tough start to his 2022 campaign Charlie Morton has now put together back to back performances that has reminded us why the Atlanta Braves brought him back this year on a one-year twenty million dollar deal. Charlie struck out twelve batters in the Braves 10-4 win over the Pirates, and then to top that the fifteen year veteran had arguably his best start of the season against the Chicago Cubs, oddly enough that start came in the game that the Braves got their fourteen game winning streak snapped.
However, the 1-0 loss was not because of anything Charlie Morton did as he was near flawless, pitching seven innings, only giving up three hits, no runs, and striking out nine, so with one good start against the Pirates followed up by a great start against the Cubs, it had Grant and Cory discussing whether or not Charlie Morton is back Sunday evening on From the Diamond.
After Charlie went on record basically saying he was not sure why he wasn’t getting swings and misses from batters on what he thought was a good curveball pitch, it seems like Charlie went back to the drawing board and tweaked some things and he is back on track.
Grant asked Cory if he thinks Charlie Morton is back and not only did Cory answer but he also gave an interesting stat saying “He had eighteen swings, twelve whiffs on that curveball, sixty-sevent percent in that outing. That was the big piece because that pitch has just been hittable this year. He’s thrown more of them than anybody in baseball, and guys have not been swinging through that pitch, so I think this outing in particular was a big step in that direction I know he had double-digit strikeouts before that in an outing that necessarily wasn’t his strongest, he had gone through a run there where he was allowing at least four in three straight stars. I think this one felt big.”
Cory finished his thought by saying “Getting a sixty-sevent percent whiff rate on a pitch you’ve been having an issue with in a start like this, I think this is a more than positive sign for Charlie Morton. Grant responds by saying “It’s good to see him go out there and really dominate a game. That felt more like Charlie Morton the way he was pitching through the second half of last year, and even into the playoffs for the Braves, what they were really looking for out of him.“
It may be too soon to decipher if the two time all star and the two time world champion is back into his prime form, but it most definitely seems like he’s on his way to looking like the Charlie Morton that started the World Series clinching game for the Houston Astros in 2017.