O's pitcher Charlie Morton found out strikeouts are good, reinventing himself at age 33

To hear new O’s pitcher Charlie Morton tell it, he has essentially had two different careers. One as a pitch-to-contact pitcher and one going for and getting many more strikeouts.

The second stage of this career, which began with his age 33 season with Houston in 2017, was a real turning point.

It has led to more durability, more swing and miss, two All-Star appearances and at age 41, to his sixth team in Baltimore. He signed a one-year deal to join the club’s rotation for $15 million.

Life begins at 33?

He had Tommy John surgery in 2012 and two hip procedures along the way. When he made just four starts due to a torn hamstring that required surgery in 2016 with the Phillies, pitching only four games and 17 innings, he thought he might be done.

But then the Houston Astros signed him to a two-year deal for $14 million in November of 2016 which raised some eyebrows. He then went 29-10 with a 3.36 ERA and made the All-Star team in 2018 and 2019.

During an O’s Zoom call with Baltimore media yesterday, Morton explained how Houston’s coaches and staff helped him essentially remake himself.

“I went in there and they were just like, ‘Hey man, you need to throw four seamers up. You need to throw hard and try to strike guys out. Get swing and miss stuff.’ I had never heard that before. I’ve been able to rely on my curveball a lot. So that’s allowed me some grace to make some mistakes – having a good secondary pitch that has developed into a primary pitch essentially. I think I have the levers to still throw hard enough, and you know, I’ve been able to stay in decent shape. Well enough to produce the force I need to throw hard enough.”

And along the way the strikeouts were indeed coming. Since the 2017 season, Morton has fanned 1,417 batters to rank fourth in the majors behind only Gerrit Cole (1,713), Aaron Nola (1.590) and Max Scherzer (1.526). He ranks ahead of pitchers like Zack Wheeler. Luis Castillo, Jose Berrios and Blake Snell.

Through 2016, over his first nine seasons, Morton had an ERA of 4.54, WHIP of 1.4412, amassed 0.7 WAR, fanned 6.3 per nine and posted an ERA+ of 84, 16 percent below league average.

Since that 2017 year, his first with Houston, over his last eight seasons he has a 3.64 ERA, a 1.210 WHIP, amassed 20.3 WAR and has an ERA+ of 116, 16 percent above average.

Strikeouts and WAR up, ERA and WHIP down.

“I sat down and they had a little boardroom and a projection screen with charts and graphs and they (the Astros) were suggesting to me to throw pitches in locations where I would get no swings or a swing and miss.

“So, it was like four-seamer at the top. Well, I had never really done that before, it was more of like a show me or waste pitch. You know where you try to aim at the top of the zone, and you try to miss at the top or above and show a hitter you are willing to go there. You know, maybe you try to get them to chase the 0-2, 1-2 breaking ball. If it doesn’t work out, you just go back to the sinker and hope they put the ball in play and put it on the ground. The back-door two seamer.

“I argued with them saying I like going down and in to righties, because I get contact early and on the ground. They said, ‘Well, no contact is actually what we prefer. We don’t want them to hit the ball, because if they don’t hit it, nothing bad happens.’

“So that was when I started to think about it and was really struggling with that idea. For seven years with Pittsburgh, I was trying to get the ball on the ground in three pitches or less and now they’re telling me don’t let them hit it.”

The new look Morton, with more strikeouts, was not only better but pitching with greater durability. He never made 30 starts through the 2017 season and now has done it six of the last seven years, missing only during the 60-game 2020 season.

He had never fanned 10.0 or more batters per nine innings through 2016 and now has done that six times. He has averaged 10.35 K/9 since 2017 to rank ninth in the majors.

The Astros were right.

“You find out how fun that is when you’re on the mound and the fate, you’re not relying on the fate of where the ball is going. You are relying on your stuff. Sure, you could throw a 90-pitch complete game with a bunch of groundouts. That was always my goal. I very rarely did that. But if you work into the seventh or eighth you would feel good about that.

“But there is definitely a different type of reward that you feel when you get strikeouts, or you get swing and miss. I’m not sure what’s better for the game? I'm not sure what’s better for pitchers long-term?

“I just know that my results and how I’ve been valued in the game since my days with Pittsburgh has been night and day. I think people will definitely say I’m a much better pitcher 2017 to now than I was ‘08 to ’15 as a sinkerballer.”

The stats clearly show that is true.

At 41, the O’s hope Morton has at least one more go in him and can be durable with some strikeouts for them starting in late March. He could help them both get to the playoffs and win some games once they get there. 

He has pitched for World Series winners with Houston in 2017 and Atlanta in 2021. In those two WS he posted an ERA of 1.42 (2 ER/12.2 IP). Over his career he has pitched in the playoffs for Pittsburgh, Houston, Tampa Bay and Atlanta with an ERA of 3.60 in 80 career postseason innings. 

“I work out the same way. I try to get my arm right to throw hard and to spin the ball. And that’s my goal from a physical standpoint. From a delivery standpoint my goal is to optimize my body to throw the best stuff I can for the longest I can," Morton said.