Charlie Morton debuts against LAA tonight

by bravitos5122 on Jun 14, 2008 5:32 PM EDT

A lot of anticipation for this kid's start tonight, especially from Braves fans. Not much of a prospect before the year, he has dominated AAA. His stuff backs up his numbers with a plus fastball and plus curveball to go with a slider and changeup that show promise. His command is what really turned everything around for him. If he can be the pitcher the Braves have been saying he is, that would be a good addition to go with other young pitchers Jurrjens and Reyes who have pitched well.

When I saw him dominate Durham he reminded me of Wainwright quite a bit. 8 IP 1 H 13 k's against the best hitting AAA team.

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I watched tonight

Got pitches up with two strikes against Vlad and Hunter to give up the last run, and he didn’t have great location on the hit by Izturis. But other than that they hardly touched him, despite him getting squeezed a bit left/right and against the little guys. All of his pitches are weapons, as advertised, just needs to locate that FB in the big spots.

Also, the Angels didn’t chase anything down. I’ll be interested to see how he fairs against some of the NL lineups. He looks good to me.

by Brett Perryman on Jun 14, 2008 11:18 PM EDT reply actions

Didn't get to watch but

It sounded like his best pitch last night was his FB, and most of the swings and misses were on that and the change.

That’s somewhat different from what it was like when I saw him, where his curve was almost certainly his best pitch, getting swings and misses all night. Makes me wonder if the pitch wasn’t working especially well for him last night.

Overall a very promising start, especially coming back from 2-0 with two on, two out to strike out Howie Kendrick and end the 6th.

by mraver on Jun 15, 2008 10:37 AM EDT reply actions

He looked good

I watched most of the game on mlb.tv. He did seem to have his FB up in the zone quite a bit, although I don’t know if that’s how he normally works (my guess is no, given his GB% at Richmond this year—pure speculation). It looked like his cutter had some nice run to it, and I saw at least a couple changeups that showed good movement as well. He didn’t throw the curve much it seemed, but he did crack off a couple of nasty ones.

I’d say the best news was his ability to pitch out of some tough spots, especially in the 6th inning. Based on his history, it seems that confidence had always been a problem for Morton, so I was concerned that he might “lose it” if he got into some tough spots. That he got out of the 3rd and 6th innings without giving up the “big inning” is a great sign.

by jibs on Jun 15, 2008 11:27 AM EDT reply actions

How do you guys think Morton will do tonight against the Rangers?

I know he’s got very good stuff and location has been a problem for him, but at 24, has he really put it together? How do you guys project him for tonight and the rest of the season as he should get a ton of starts due to the losses of Glavine and Smoltz?

"When Justin Upton faces Lincecum, I think Christ might appear in the heavens, and the world will end." -JakeFree

by JT12340 on Jun 18, 2008 8:01 AM EDT reply actions

2moro

Not 2nite

by Jay212033 on Jun 18, 2008 1:48 PM EDT up reply actions

Correction, Tomorrow night...

No Takers?

"When Justin Upton faces Lincecum, I think Christ might appear in the heavens, and the world will end." -JakeFree

by JT12340 on Jun 19, 2008 2:51 AM EDT reply actions

Honestly, I think he'll be fine

Treat him like any other young pitcher with upside. His stuff is great, and he’s been locating it fine thus far. He didn’t seem to have qualms about throwing strikes to big-league hitters, which is often an impediment for young guys coming up. ‘Course, he might be more cautious in Texas ‘cause it’s Texas. :-) He shouldn’t have trouble striking people out, and he seemed very composed in his first go, so no reason to doubt that. I think his upside this year is a #3 starter (maybe higher after he’s got some big-league experience), and I think he’s got a decent shot to reach.

It’s not clear whether he’ll go back to AAA or Campillo will return to the ‘pen when Glavine returns/Hampton gets healthy/they call up Chuck James, so how many innings he pitches this year is rather tough to determine.

by mraver on Jun 19, 2008 10:43 AM EDT up reply actions