Baltimore Orioles Veteran Pitcher Reveals What He Believes Has Led to Abysmal Start

One of the bigger moves that the Baltimore Orioles made during the MLB offseason was signing veteran starting pitcher Charlie Morton.

He was part of the group that the team was hoping would help replace the production lost when their ace, Corbin Burnes, signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks in free agency.

It was a strategy that came under fire and was scrutinzed by many. The team lacked a certified ace and anchor to their rotation but hoped that adding as much depth as possible would compensate for their shortcoming.

Through the first month of the season, the doubters have been proven wrong.

Morton has been amongst the worst pitchers in baseball this year, providing the team with no positive production on the mound.

He currently leads the MLB in earned runs and walks allowed with 28 and 21, respectively. Throwing only 26.2 innings, that has resulted in an ugly 9.45 ERA, and 40 ERA+ and ghastly -1.1 WAR.

It is hard to fathom a professional athlete having their skills diminish and fall off a cliff this rapidly.

Morton wasn’t an ace by any means in 2024 with the Atlanta Braves, but he was serviceable with a 4.19 ERA across 165.1 innings. At the very least he could be counted on to take the ball whenever it was his turn, making at least 30 starts in six consecutive 162-game campaigns.

It is very unlikely he will continue that streak in 2025 with manager Brandon Hyde revealing that his veteran will be pitching out of the bullpen for the foreseeable future.

His last two appearances were both out of the bullpen; one as a bulk inning pitching behind opener Keegan Akin, a relief pitcher, and in relief of fellow veteran free agent addition Kyle Gibson, who got shelled by the New York Yankees.

He is going to remain in a relief role for a little while to attempt to get back on track.

What will Morton be working on?

As shared by Matt Weyrich of the Baltimore Sun, in Morton’s opinion, it isn’t a problem with velocity or movement on his pitches.

He still believes that he can get the job done at the highest level, but needs to find more consistency with his mechanics. Should that happen, his control will return and his production will improve.

“My ceiling is higher than people think, but my floor is about where I'm at,” the veteran said via Weyrich on X.

Orioles’ Charlie Morton doesn’t attribute his rough start to any diminished velocity or movement on his pitches, but says if he can repeat his mechanics better then his command will be more consistent:

“My ceiling is higher than people think, but my floor is about where I'm at.”
— Matt Weyrich (@ByMattWeyrich) May 2, 2025

It certainly feels as if Morton has hit rock bottom and the team is hopeful that he can figure things out. They are in desperate need of help in the starting rotation and committed a lot of money to him to be one of their main contributors.

With limited options to turn to, he will likely get another chance at some point down the road if he can string together a few good outings in the bullpen.