Charlie Morton's Tigers Struggles Leads to Unwanted 'Award' From Hall of Fame Writer
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Looking to upgrade their pitching staff ahead of the MLB trade deadline, the Detroit Tigers made several moves to shake things up. Some of those moves have paid off better than others.
One of the deals that has not panned out was the acquisition of Charlie Morton from the Baltimore Orioles. After a brutal start to his tenure there, he was removed from the starting rotation.
After figuring things out in the bullpen, he was shifted back to being a starting pitcher again, and his production took off.
Morton performed admirably over an 11-start stretch. He had a 3.88 ERA across 60.1 innings with 61 strikeouts. He showed much-improved control, walking only 24 batters after issuing 15 walks over his first 20.1 innings of the season.
With the Orioles' season over for all intents and purposes, they were sellers ahead of the deadline. The veteran righty performed well enough that contending teams showed an interest in adding him to their staff.
The Tigers were one of those teams and acquired Morton in exchange for minor league pitcher Micah Ashman. He started his tenure on a high note, going 2-2 with a 3.63 ERA over his first four starts with his new team.
Charlie Morton was Major Disappointment with Tigers
But after that point, Morton more closely resembled the player from the start of the season. And it has resulted in Jayson Stark of The Athletic (subscription required) giving him the American League Cy Yuk Award this season.
The unwanted recognition was warranted due to his poor performance. Over his next five starts, Detroit went 0-5 and Morton recorded an abysmal 11.65 ERA. The final straw was a start against the Atlanta Braves on Sept. 19.
He managed to make it only 1.1 innings, giving up six earned runs on five hits and two walks. One batter was hit as well, in what ended up being his last appearance with the Tigers.
The team announced that he was designated for assignment following that start. A big reason for his struggles was losing command of his arsenal again. He was issuing almost eight walks per nine innings. Opponents took full advantage of his struggles, hitting him hard to the tune of a .329 batting average and .611 slugging percentage.
It wasn’t solely Morton’s fault for the historic meltdown the Tigers have endured, but he certainly contributed. He was acquired ahead of the deadline to help solidify the starting rotation behind ace Tarik Skubal, but he failed in that regard.
Essentially, the veteran righty contributed to torpedoing the playoff chances of two franchises. The Tigers were able to hold on and earn a spot in the postseason, but they cannot feel good about their chances heading into October with their current form.
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Kenneth Teape is an alumnus of SUNY Old Westbury and graduated in 2013 with an Honors Degree in Media Communications with a focus on print journalism. During his time at Old Westbury, he worked for the school newspaper and several online publications, such as Knicks Now, the official website of the New York Knicks, and a self-made website with fellow students, Gotham City Sports News. Kenneth has also been a site expert at Empire Writes Back, Musket Fire, and Lake Show Life within the FanSided Network. He was a contributor to HoopsHabit, with work featured on Bleacher Report and Yardbarker. In addition to his work here, he is a reporter for both NBA Analysis Network and NFL Analysis Network, as well as a writer and editor for Packers Coverage. You can follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @teapester725, or reach him via email at teapester725@gmail.com.