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2018 Houston Astros Season Thread

Planet Houston

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Bregs is going Crawford Boxes right here.

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Prior to the footage being edited by Bender:

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Two Diamond Club tickets available for the Sunday night game.  Free.  Need to pick them up from me in 77027. Rules: Poster must be a big contributor to this thread/last years shag thread.  No gue

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Shep hooked me up with Tuesday. Sorry.

 

People be brawlin for $1 Dog Night...lol.  Actually wanted to see the noob pitch for the Angels...and might as well get a few Springer Dingers for good measure.

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Seasick Sailor

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Can anyone post this article?

https://theathletic.com/325620/2018/04/23/qa-charlie-morton-on-breaking-out-late-in-his-career-his-uncertain-future-and-his-new-nickname/

The Athletic seems to be producing some quality sports journalism. If you are a subscriber, are you happy with the content relative to the cost of a subscription? Might have to break down and subscribe.

 

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scottonian

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14 minutes ago, Seasick Sailor said:

Can anyone post this article?

https://theathletic.com/325620/2018/04/23/qa-charlie-morton-on-breaking-out-late-in-his-career-his-uncertain-future-and-his-new-nickname/

The Athletic seems to be producing some quality sports journalism. If you are a subscriber, are you happy with the content relative to the cost of a subscription? Might have to break down and subscribe.

 

I'm a subscriber, and I think it's well worth the money. Daily content from Kaplan is really good, and they get articles periodically from some other contributors focused on the Astros (@astroscounty and @tylercstafford). Add the articles from really top level national writers (Rosenthal, Stark and Gammons) and it's a no brainer. Also, the CFB content is high quality as well.

If anyone wants to subscribe, please use the following link (LINK), so I can get some credit. Thx!

 

Spoiler

 

Q&A: Charlie Morton on breaking out late in his career, his uncertain future and his new nickname


By Jake Kaplan 2h ago  4  
Charlie Morton, known during his Pittsburgh days as “Ground Chuck,” has been reborn in Houston, new nickname and all.

These days, he is Charlie Freaking Morton – substitute your F word of choice if you wish – or simply CFM. Since he closed out the 2017 World Series, the #CFM hashtag has become a rallying cry for Astros fans on Twitter. It's even recognized by the team's official Twitter account, which routinely includes it in posts about the revelatory No. 5 starter.

The Astros' pitchers get a kick out of it, too; they've discussed ordering custom-made CFM T-shirts. Morton, an inquisitive 34-year-old with a dry sense of humor, is beloved in Houston's clubhouse and would be even if he hadn't twice been a Game 7 hero last fall. “The nicest cat on the planet,” is how Gerrit Cole, a friend of five years, describes him.

Through this season's first few weeks, Morton has also been the Astros' best pitcher. In four starts and 25 innings, the 6-foot-5 righthander has a 0.72 ERA, best in the American League and second in the majors behind Johnny Cueto (0.35). After breaking out at the age of 33, he's somehow throwing even harder a year later. A free agent at season's end, he's pitching his way into qualifying offer territory if he can stay healthy, the variable that held him back for so many years.

“He's a killer on the mound,” said Cole, the first-year Astro who was a teammate of Morton with the Pirates from 2013-15. “He thinks his career's over after every time he pitches. But every time he gets on the mound, he wants to beat your ass.”

Despite his recent run, Morton, whose pro career dates to 2002, still isn't sure how much longer he wants to pitch. He has openly discussed the possibility of retiring after even this season to spend more time with his wife, Cindy, and their three kids: 4-year-old Cam (Charles Alfred Morton V), 3-year-old Grace and 1-year-old Benjamin. It's difficult to imagine a pitcher hanging it up coming off the quality of season Morton appears poised to have, though. Regardless of his age, he's one of the game's hardest throwers, and his curveball is as devastating as ever.

Morton has some “most interesting man in baseball”-type qualities. He is thoughtful and curious by nature, and it often leads to questions out of left field about topics such as the solar system. He might at times be regarded as pessimistic, but he prefers to describe himself as realistic. In interviews, his articulate responses can span minutes, sometimes with long pauses as he ruminates on a question.

His quirkiness also occasionally manifests in games he's pitching. In the fourth inning of his start Thursday at Seattle, Robinson Canó smoked a line drive off Morton's right arm, which prompted a mound visit from Astros head athletic trainer Jeremiah Randall and manager A.J. Hinch. After Morton swiftly proved he was fine by firing a couple of warm-up pitches to catcher Max Stassi, he turned to Randall, who was also his trainer with the Pirates.

“Do you want to do a clinical evaluation?,” he cracked.

Morton's next start is Tuesday night against the Angels and opposite Shohei Ohtani at Minute Maid Park. On Sunday, before the Astros' series finale in Chicago, he spoke at length to The Athletic about his fascinating career trajectory, his early 2018 success, his future and much more.

(This conversation has been lightly edited for clarity.)

As we sit here today, on the morning of April 22, you lead AL starters in ERA. You've gone at least six innings in all four starts and been scoreless in three of them. How?

Charlie Morton: (Laughs) I think I'm starting to get a better feel for where my stuff is, and I think Mac (Brian McCann) and Stass (Max Stassi) are starting to get a really good feel for how my stuff plays in our game plans going in and then just adjusting on the fly. When you go into a game, you have a certain plan about how you're going to attack a hitter, and, usually, those plans fall in line with typical sequences. Like, you establish your fastball, you get ahead with your fastball, and then you go to your secondary stuff. But you don't go to your secondary stuff too much because you don't want to fall behind or you don't want to let them see your secondary stuff too much. And that's basically gone out the window. And I think that (pitch) mix has helped. I think increased usage of my four-seam has helped because it gives hitters a different look off of my two-seam. And I think there has been a secondary pitch there to use, whether that's my changeup, my cutter or curveball.

Are you more confident on the mound?

Morton: I think that over time I've just become more at peace with my career and more at peace with life in general. I don't feel the stresses that I used to when I was trying to establish myself. It took me six years to get to the big leagues. It took me nine to get my first full year in. And then I started having success. In 2011, I was pitching really well. I remember at the end of June looking up and trying to figure out exactly where I was; I remember having like a 2-something ERA and like seven wins and two losses or something like that. That was the first time in my career where I had a string of really successful outings. I had two complete games. And then I went through a really rough stretch in 2011. The league started to adjust. I had dropped my arm slot. My pitches were a little bit different. I started learning that I actually could get outs in the big leagues. It was just the kind of volatility you might expect. And then I went on a streak of scoreless innings. I think I had 24 scoreless innings at some point during that season. And then I wound up having hip problems that season. I wound up having hip surgery at the end of the year. The next year, I was throwing OK for the first month, and then I tore my UCL in my elbow, had surgery a month later.

I'll go back and say that I think the beginning of the 2011 season, that's when my whole career changed for the better. Just from dropping my arm slot. I started using my sinker a lot more because my sinker had a lot more movement. I became more effective. So, if you go back and you look at the pitcher I've been since 2011, it's a good pitcher. It's not a great pitcher. But it's a legitimate, major-league starting pitcher. The problem I had was health, and I think that's the biggest thing that has changed for me. I had the lat injury last year that kept me out for a good amount of time, but there wasn't a catastrophic injury that took me out for a season.

You are a different pitcher in terms of velocity, which has been well documented. You sat mostly 90-93 with the Pirates. After last year when you had the huge spike, you're throwing even harder this year. How do you explain yet another uptick?

Morton: I don't know. It's one of those things where it's really frustrating to look back, just as much as it was to look back at 2011 for me. Because I began my professional career in 2002, and then you're always trying to get better, but it just seems hard. It just seems like it's not as easy as it should be. It shouldn't be easy, but there should be a moment where something clicks and you see a drastic improvement. Either that or a gradual improvement over time. Neither of those things were happening for me, 2002 to 2008, basically. In 2007, was when I made a couple of mechanical adjustments. I tried to like stay more upright and stay more closed. I started throwing really hard. In the fall league, I was throwing really hard out of the bullpen. But there was never this stretch of months or years where I was pitching well. I probably had like a career 5.00 ERA in the minor leagues. And then in the fall league in 2007, I started pitching really well. And the next couple months in Triple A, I started pitching really well. And that was the first time in five, six years where I had months of sustained success. And then I get called up to the big leagues, and the cycle starts all over again.

So, I never had a time where I felt like I belonged. I never had a feeling of being an established major leaguer. And the whole time, you're changing these things and you're trying to get better, but it's just not happening. So, the two things I think: my arm slot change and being more aware and taking care of my body. I remember just going in the weight room and just lifting and running and just doing it almost like a form of punishment but also because that's what was accepted. It was just move a lot of weight, try to be really big and strong and then go pitch.

My workouts changed after the 2015 season. In the offseason, we were doing phases. You get in the gym, and you do a bunch of high-rep stuff. Then you go heavier. And then you do more explosive stuff, more dynamic stuff. So, you become physically more dynamic. That helped my pitching; there's no question in my mind. That was like the biggest thing, just getting dynamically strong.

And then, also, the mentality that's changed for me. All of 2015 was really frustrating for me. I was coming off another surgery in 2014 for my hip. Then I came to spring training, and my stuff wasn't there. My location wasn't there. My delivery was a mess. By the end of the year, I was throwing angrily. I was frustrated. And if you go back and you look at my pitch speeds at the end of the year … I remember a game in Colorado. I remember looking up just to see where I was at, and it was still there. It was like 94 to 96, and it didn't matter. I still gave up like six runs. The next game, I think it was against the Cardinals at home, it was a crucial game. I think we were a game or two back in the division against the Cardinals. And I gave up like five runs in an inning or two, and I got booed off the field. That was the last time I pitched for the Pirates. That was when I knew that it was still in my arm. But I didn't know what to do with it. I was extremely frustrated.

So, that offseason I changed my workouts. I started working out with Andrew Emmick and Mike Gough. Mike owns a place in Lakewood Ranch, Florida. Tony Watson's there. Jim Johnson's there. Miguel González is there. Alex Presley. We had a nice little group down there, and the workouts just became better. My offseason became more productive. And then I came to spring training with the Phillies (in 2016), and then I looked up in spring training and it was like 95-96. I was like, “All right, this is great.” And then I had yet another injury (torn hamstring) and had surgery on that one. But the increase in pitch speed from then to last year to now; you say I'm throwing harder, I don't know. I consider anything over 95 like the same because that's really hard. But I don't know. I don't know how to explain it other than the change in my body, different workouts, getting stronger and the mentality.

(Note: Morton's four-seam fastball has averaged 96.63 mph this season, up from 96.10 mph in 2017, and 95.22 in 2016, according to Brooks Baseball. His two-seam fastball has averaged 96.07, up from 95.31 and 94.83, per Brooks. In 2015, his fastballs averaged 92.78 and 92.38.)

How has your curveball evolved since A.J. Burnett showed you the knuckle-curve grip in 2012 or 2013?

Morton: When he showed me that grip, I started to notice it was harder. And I would assume the spin was a little tighter, and I started to get more swing and misses. It had been a pitch where I could induce soft contact and get swing and misses, but it wasn't a go-to pitch. I guess primarily because my sinker was my go-to pitch. Like if you asked me, “Hey, what's your best pitch?” I would have said, “My sinker.” And I wouldn't even have thought twice about it. Now, I would say probably my curveball, especially against lefties. If I can throw it for strikes, I never feel like my back's against the wall. I used to. I used to feel like I had to make perfect pitches, and I felt like I didn't have many options.

You will be a free agent at season's end and turn 35 early in the offseason. How many more seasons do you want to pitch?

Morton: (Laughs) I don't know. I miss my family. Family is the most important thing to me. My wife has been incredible with how she's handled the change to becoming someone that is basically a support system. She had dreams of what she wanted to do with her life, and I'm sure it wasn't moving to wherever I was and revolving her life around what I was doing. But that's exactly what happened. And we've been really fortunate financially with the success I've had in my career. But it's not like I want to keep playing just to keep playing. Because I'm cognizant of her needs and wanting to do something for herself and also our kids, who would prefer to have me at home. My goals in baseball have pretty much been fulfilled. Now, it would be more about the situation overall. What's the group like in the clubhouse? Where would I be? Would I be closer to her family (in Delaware) in a spot where she would prefer to be? These are all variables that have to be taken into account. I'm not just going to keep playing because I can. The situation is going to have to be right. I would probably keep playing if I was single and didn't have a wife and kids. But that's really what gives me the most fulfillment, is my family. The most important thing to me is my family. It's undoubtedly my family.

So, is there a scenario where this is your last year?

Morton: Yeah. … The situation would dictate whether or not I keep playing. Am I healthy? Probably the biggest question would be my health. What am I doing? Am I rehabbing from something? Am I rehabbing from another surgery? Like, you don't know. But kind of the way my career has been the last five to six years, where I've been dealing with not just injuries but surgeries and lengthy rehabs — that would be a factor. How am I pitching? How am I pitching at the end of the year? What do contract offers look like? Where are those teams that are offering the contracts? Where are they located? All of these things are going to factor into it, and then we're going to make a decision. But I'm not going to make a decision on that April 22nd.

Have you had any discussions with the Astros about a potential extension?

Morton: I haven't.

Has your agent?

Morton: I don't know. I'm sure he's discussed it vaguely with them because I know he's spoken to representatives from the Astros. But any particulars? Not that I'm aware of.

(Morton is represented by Andrew Lowenthal of Jet Sports Management.)

How would you feel about the possibility of remaining with the Astros as opposed to testing the open market and seeing what's out there?

Morton: I would rather be with the Astros. I think I fit in well here, and I think the group here is special. Very special. So, this is the kind of situation that would be optimal, aside from it being a little further away from her family. But when you think about a team that you want to play for, a team like this is it. To me, this is as good as it gets, a team like this, the group that's in there, the front office staff, ownership, the coaching staff, just the quality of the people. And then you talk about the talent. And, plus, I've developed friendships here.

How has your life changed since Game 7 of the World Series?

Morton: My life hasn't changed at all. I think people's perception of me has changed. I guess my perception of myself would have changed if I had been in a different stage of my career, of my life, maybe. If I had been younger, maybe I would've started thinking, “Man, I'm really good.” (Laughs) But I know how fickle this whole thing is. This idea of the perception of success, what makes somebody successful, what is considered to be successful, I think pitching well in the playoffs, that was a byproduct of who I am, but it didn't make me who I am. I think the failures made me who I am. I think I'm more appreciative of the failures or the challenges than any successes I've had because the successes are just windows in time where things align and go your way.

What does Charlie Morton do when he's not at the ballpark?

Morton: The biggest thing is spending time with my family. That's what I love doing. But I also play guitar. I sing. I read. I play video games. I got into coffee, like actual espresso grinding and pulling some shots. A little barista action. I got into woodworking when I was rehabbing from TJ (in 2012). That's something that I like doing. I'm not really like a super crafty person, but that would be something I would consider a craft that I've gotten into. I really like barbecue. I have two smokers. I have a nice big offset that I got last offseason that I spent a lot of time on this offseason.

(The Mortons live in Bradenton, Fla., in the offseason.)

I know you're not on social media of any kind but that you have been made aware of the CFM movement on Twitter. Any thoughts on your new middle name?

Morton: Yeah, Gatty (Evan Gattis) told me. (Laughs) No. I don't have any thoughts. I appreciate it when people fondly assign you a nickname. So, when people started calling me “Ground Chuck” in Pittsburgh, I was like, “That's pretty cool.” I appreciate the sentiment behind it, like if it's enthusiastic or positive. But a big reason why I avoid social media is there's so much negativity on social media.

Gerrit says there has been talk of making CFM T-shirts for the pitchers.

Morton: Oh. Well, they were talking about making T-shirts for each of the starting pitchers. I was like, “OK. Well, can I pick the name?” They said yes, but apparently that's not the case anymore.

Do you think it's time to retire the “Ground Chuck” nickname given the way you pitch now is so much different?

Morton: What's my ground-ball rate? If my ground-ball rate's over 50 percent, that's still a ground-ball pitcher.

(Morton has a 60.3 groundball percentage to go with his 11.9 strikeouts per nine.)

But you're striking so many more guys out.

Morton: Well, that's the thing, too. People are like, “Oh, you're so much better of a pitcher.” Well, I'm a different pitcher, certainly. I'm striking more people out, and I'm throwing harder. But I don't consider myself to be a drastically better pitcher. If I look at my numbers and I'm completely honest with myself … “All right. Were you healthy? Did you figure some things out?” And then I kind of try to move the numbers around within a certain frame of time, beginning in 2011, and I think to myself, “If I'm being completely honest with myself, I don't think I'm throwing drastically better.” When you mentioned like this stretch I'm going through, like I've gone through stretches where I threw really well and those abruptly ended with a game where I gave up seven-plus runs. (Laughs)

You're very pessimistic.

Morton: I'm just realistic. These things happen. You look at yourself differently, people look at you differently and then all of a sudden something happens and they don't look at you that way anymore. You don't look at yourself that way anymore. So, I'm just going to completely avoid looking at myself that way in the first place. I'm going to go out there and just try to get an out at a time and see where that leads me. People talk about mentality being like the biggest part of the game, right? Well, maybe it's my mentality that's changed over time. It's not like I didn't throw hard before. I wasn't sitting 95, 96 miles an hour, but I was throwing harder than average. If I'm averaging 92, 93 miles an hour, that's still a weapon. But maybe my mentality has changed. I don't really know. Honestly, I'm trying to appreciate the moments because, like we just discussed, my career's winding down. It could be this year, next year, but I'm not going to keep playing for a long time. I can promise you that. I'm not going to keep playing four, five, six, seven more years.

 

 

Edited by scottonian
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IDIOTsavant

IDIOTsavant 8,502

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29 minutes ago, Seasick Sailor said:

Can anyone post this article?

https://theathletic.com/325620/2018/04/23/qa-charlie-morton-on-breaking-out-late-in-his-career-his-uncertain-future-and-his-new-nickname/

The Athletic seems to be producing some quality sports journalism. If you are a subscriber, are you happy with the content relative to the cost of a subscription? Might have to break down and subscribe.

 

scottonian already posted, but I'd definitely recommend The Athletic. It's essentially a collection of my favorite sports writers...and Peter Gammons.

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Amos Moses

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Just echoing what most are typing about the Athletic ... I subscribed Friday in response to one of their flash sales (entire year for $29.99) and so far I'm very pleased with the content.  The Astros stuff is great - I'm still catching up on some of the prior articles.  I haven't read the Morton Q&A yet, but there was a really good breakdown of the offense struggles (at the time ... before games 2-4 of the Seattle series and the ChiSox series) that was excellent.  Highly recommend just for the Astros coverage.

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UTexasFight

UTexasFight 9,551

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Just echoing what most are typing about the Athletic ... I subscribed Friday in response to one of their flash sales (entire year for $29.99) and so far I'm very pleased with the content.  The Astros stuff is great - I'm still catching up on some of the prior articles.  I haven't read the Morton Q&A yet, but there was a really good breakdown of the offense struggles (at the time ... before games 2-4 of the Seattle series and the ChiSox series) that was excellent.  Highly recommend just for the Astros coverage.

I read that same offensive breakdown and thought at the time it should have been required reading for everyone on this thread freaking out about our offense.
The article, as I recall, basically said all of our advanced metrics were fine (save Jake and Fisher) but that they were doing terrible at connecting on pitches in the strike zone ...and once we started doing that again, look out.

Sure enough.
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LCHorn

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2 hours ago, scottonian said:

I'm a subscriber, and I think it's well worth the money. Daily content from Kaplan is really good, and they get articles periodically from some other contributors focused on the Astros (@astroscounty and @tylercstafford). Add the articles from really top level national writers (Rosenthal, Stark and Gammons) and it's a no brainer. Also, the CFB content is high quality as well.

If anyone wants to subscribe, please use the following link (LINK), so I can get some credit. Thx!

 

  Hide contents

 

Q&A: Charlie Morton on breaking out late in his career, his uncertain future and his new nickname


By Jake Kaplan 2h ago  4  
Charlie Morton, known during his Pittsburgh days as “Ground Chuck,” has been reborn in Houston, new nickname and all.

These days, he is Charlie Freaking Morton – substitute your F word of choice if you wish – or simply CFM. Since he closed out the 2017 World Series, the #CFM hashtag has become a rallying cry for Astros fans on Twitter. It's even recognized by the team's official Twitter account, which routinely includes it in posts about the revelatory No. 5 starter.

The Astros' pitchers get a kick out of it, too; they've discussed ordering custom-made CFM T-shirts. Morton, an inquisitive 34-year-old with a dry sense of humor, is beloved in Houston's clubhouse and would be even if he hadn't twice been a Game 7 hero last fall. “The nicest cat on the planet,” is how Gerrit Cole, a friend of five years, describes him.

Through this season's first few weeks, Morton has also been the Astros' best pitcher. In four starts and 25 innings, the 6-foot-5 righthander has a 0.72 ERA, best in the American League and second in the majors behind Johnny Cueto (0.35). After breaking out at the age of 33, he's somehow throwing even harder a year later. A free agent at season's end, he's pitching his way into qualifying offer territory if he can stay healthy, the variable that held him back for so many years.

“He's a killer on the mound,” said Cole, the first-year Astro who was a teammate of Morton with the Pirates from 2013-15. “He thinks his career's over after every time he pitches. But every time he gets on the mound, he wants to beat your ass.”

Despite his recent run, Morton, whose pro career dates to 2002, still isn't sure how much longer he wants to pitch. He has openly discussed the possibility of retiring after even this season to spend more time with his wife, Cindy, and their three kids: 4-year-old Cam (Charles Alfred Morton V), 3-year-old Grace and 1-year-old Benjamin. It's difficult to imagine a pitcher hanging it up coming off the quality of season Morton appears poised to have, though. Regardless of his age, he's one of the game's hardest throwers, and his curveball is as devastating as ever.

Morton has some “most interesting man in baseball”-type qualities. He is thoughtful and curious by nature, and it often leads to questions out of left field about topics such as the solar system. He might at times be regarded as pessimistic, but he prefers to describe himself as realistic. In interviews, his articulate responses can span minutes, sometimes with long pauses as he ruminates on a question.

His quirkiness also occasionally manifests in games he's pitching. In the fourth inning of his start Thursday at Seattle, Robinson Canó smoked a line drive off Morton's right arm, which prompted a mound visit from Astros head athletic trainer Jeremiah Randall and manager A.J. Hinch. After Morton swiftly proved he was fine by firing a couple of warm-up pitches to catcher Max Stassi, he turned to Randall, who was also his trainer with the Pirates.

“Do you want to do a clinical evaluation?,” he cracked.

Morton's next start is Tuesday night against the Angels and opposite Shohei Ohtani at Minute Maid Park. On Sunday, before the Astros' series finale in Chicago, he spoke at length to The Athletic about his fascinating career trajectory, his early 2018 success, his future and much more.

(This conversation has been lightly edited for clarity.)

As we sit here today, on the morning of April 22, you lead AL starters in ERA. You've gone at least six innings in all four starts and been scoreless in three of them. How?

Charlie Morton: (Laughs) I think I'm starting to get a better feel for where my stuff is, and I think Mac (Brian McCann) and Stass (Max Stassi) are starting to get a really good feel for how my stuff plays in our game plans going in and then just adjusting on the fly. When you go into a game, you have a certain plan about how you're going to attack a hitter, and, usually, those plans fall in line with typical sequences. Like, you establish your fastball, you get ahead with your fastball, and then you go to your secondary stuff. But you don't go to your secondary stuff too much because you don't want to fall behind or you don't want to let them see your secondary stuff too much. And that's basically gone out the window. And I think that (pitch) mix has helped. I think increased usage of my four-seam has helped because it gives hitters a different look off of my two-seam. And I think there has been a secondary pitch there to use, whether that's my changeup, my cutter or curveball.

Are you more confident on the mound?

Morton: I think that over time I've just become more at peace with my career and more at peace with life in general. I don't feel the stresses that I used to when I was trying to establish myself. It took me six years to get to the big leagues. It took me nine to get my first full year in. And then I started having success. In 2011, I was pitching really well. I remember at the end of June looking up and trying to figure out exactly where I was; I remember having like a 2-something ERA and like seven wins and two losses or something like that. That was the first time in my career where I had a string of really successful outings. I had two complete games. And then I went through a really rough stretch in 2011. The league started to adjust. I had dropped my arm slot. My pitches were a little bit different. I started learning that I actually could get outs in the big leagues. It was just the kind of volatility you might expect. And then I went on a streak of scoreless innings. I think I had 24 scoreless innings at some point during that season. And then I wound up having hip problems that season. I wound up having hip surgery at the end of the year. The next year, I was throwing OK for the first month, and then I tore my UCL in my elbow, had surgery a month later.

I'll go back and say that I think the beginning of the 2011 season, that's when my whole career changed for the better. Just from dropping my arm slot. I started using my sinker a lot more because my sinker had a lot more movement. I became more effective. So, if you go back and you look at the pitcher I've been since 2011, it's a good pitcher. It's not a great pitcher. But it's a legitimate, major-league starting pitcher. The problem I had was health, and I think that's the biggest thing that has changed for me. I had the lat injury last year that kept me out for a good amount of time, but there wasn't a catastrophic injury that took me out for a season.

You are a different pitcher in terms of velocity, which has been well documented. You sat mostly 90-93 with the Pirates. After last year when you had the huge spike, you're throwing even harder this year. How do you explain yet another uptick?

Morton: I don't know. It's one of those things where it's really frustrating to look back, just as much as it was to look back at 2011 for me. Because I began my professional career in 2002, and then you're always trying to get better, but it just seems hard. It just seems like it's not as easy as it should be. It shouldn't be easy, but there should be a moment where something clicks and you see a drastic improvement. Either that or a gradual improvement over time. Neither of those things were happening for me, 2002 to 2008, basically. In 2007, was when I made a couple of mechanical adjustments. I tried to like stay more upright and stay more closed. I started throwing really hard. In the fall league, I was throwing really hard out of the bullpen. But there was never this stretch of months or years where I was pitching well. I probably had like a career 5.00 ERA in the minor leagues. And then in the fall league in 2007, I started pitching really well. And the next couple months in Triple A, I started pitching really well. And that was the first time in five, six years where I had months of sustained success. And then I get called up to the big leagues, and the cycle starts all over again.

So, I never had a time where I felt like I belonged. I never had a feeling of being an established major leaguer. And the whole time, you're changing these things and you're trying to get better, but it's just not happening. So, the two things I think: my arm slot change and being more aware and taking care of my body. I remember just going in the weight room and just lifting and running and just doing it almost like a form of punishment but also because that's what was accepted. It was just move a lot of weight, try to be really big and strong and then go pitch.

My workouts changed after the 2015 season. In the offseason, we were doing phases. You get in the gym, and you do a bunch of high-rep stuff. Then you go heavier. And then you do more explosive stuff, more dynamic stuff. So, you become physically more dynamic. That helped my pitching; there's no question in my mind. That was like the biggest thing, just getting dynamically strong.

And then, also, the mentality that's changed for me. All of 2015 was really frustrating for me. I was coming off another surgery in 2014 for my hip. Then I came to spring training, and my stuff wasn't there. My location wasn't there. My delivery was a mess. By the end of the year, I was throwing angrily. I was frustrated. And if you go back and you look at my pitch speeds at the end of the year … I remember a game in Colorado. I remember looking up just to see where I was at, and it was still there. It was like 94 to 96, and it didn't matter. I still gave up like six runs. The next game, I think it was against the Cardinals at home, it was a crucial game. I think we were a game or two back in the division against the Cardinals. And I gave up like five runs in an inning or two, and I got booed off the field. That was the last time I pitched for the Pirates. That was when I knew that it was still in my arm. But I didn't know what to do with it. I was extremely frustrated.

So, that offseason I changed my workouts. I started working out with Andrew Emmick and Mike Gough. Mike owns a place in Lakewood Ranch, Florida. Tony Watson's there. Jim Johnson's there. Miguel González is there. Alex Presley. We had a nice little group down there, and the workouts just became better. My offseason became more productive. And then I came to spring training with the Phillies (in 2016), and then I looked up in spring training and it was like 95-96. I was like, “All right, this is great.” And then I had yet another injury (torn hamstring) and had surgery on that one. But the increase in pitch speed from then to last year to now; you say I'm throwing harder, I don't know. I consider anything over 95 like the same because that's really hard. But I don't know. I don't know how to explain it other than the change in my body, different workouts, getting stronger and the mentality.

(Note: Morton's four-seam fastball has averaged 96.63 mph this season, up from 96.10 mph in 2017, and 95.22 in 2016, according to Brooks Baseball. His two-seam fastball has averaged 96.07, up from 95.31 and 94.83, per Brooks. In 2015, his fastballs averaged 92.78 and 92.38.)

How has your curveball evolved since A.J. Burnett showed you the knuckle-curve grip in 2012 or 2013?

Morton: When he showed me that grip, I started to notice it was harder. And I would assume the spin was a little tighter, and I started to get more swing and misses. It had been a pitch where I could induce soft contact and get swing and misses, but it wasn't a go-to pitch. I guess primarily because my sinker was my go-to pitch. Like if you asked me, “Hey, what's your best pitch?” I would have said, “My sinker.” And I wouldn't even have thought twice about it. Now, I would say probably my curveball, especially against lefties. If I can throw it for strikes, I never feel like my back's against the wall. I used to. I used to feel like I had to make perfect pitches, and I felt like I didn't have many options.

You will be a free agent at season's end and turn 35 early in the offseason. How many more seasons do you want to pitch?

Morton: (Laughs) I don't know. I miss my family. Family is the most important thing to me. My wife has been incredible with how she's handled the change to becoming someone that is basically a support system. She had dreams of what she wanted to do with her life, and I'm sure it wasn't moving to wherever I was and revolving her life around what I was doing. But that's exactly what happened. And we've been really fortunate financially with the success I've had in my career. But it's not like I want to keep playing just to keep playing. Because I'm cognizant of her needs and wanting to do something for herself and also our kids, who would prefer to have me at home. My goals in baseball have pretty much been fulfilled. Now, it would be more about the situation overall. What's the group like in the clubhouse? Where would I be? Would I be closer to her family (in Delaware) in a spot where she would prefer to be? These are all variables that have to be taken into account. I'm not just going to keep playing because I can. The situation is going to have to be right. I would probably keep playing if I was single and didn't have a wife and kids. But that's really what gives me the most fulfillment, is my family. The most important thing to me is my family. It's undoubtedly my family.

So, is there a scenario where this is your last year?

Morton: Yeah. … The situation would dictate whether or not I keep playing. Am I healthy? Probably the biggest question would be my health. What am I doing? Am I rehabbing from something? Am I rehabbing from another surgery? Like, you don't know. But kind of the way my career has been the last five to six years, where I've been dealing with not just injuries but surgeries and lengthy rehabs — that would be a factor. How am I pitching? How am I pitching at the end of the year? What do contract offers look like? Where are those teams that are offering the contracts? Where are they located? All of these things are going to factor into it, and then we're going to make a decision. But I'm not going to make a decision on that April 22nd.

Have you had any discussions with the Astros about a potential extension?

Morton: I haven't.

Has your agent?

Morton: I don't know. I'm sure he's discussed it vaguely with them because I know he's spoken to representatives from the Astros. But any particulars? Not that I'm aware of.

(Morton is represented by Andrew Lowenthal of Jet Sports Management.)

How would you feel about the possibility of remaining with the Astros as opposed to testing the open market and seeing what's out there?

Morton: I would rather be with the Astros. I think I fit in well here, and I think the group here is special. Very special. So, this is the kind of situation that would be optimal, aside from it being a little further away from her family. But when you think about a team that you want to play for, a team like this is it. To me, this is as good as it gets, a team like this, the group that's in there, the front office staff, ownership, the coaching staff, just the quality of the people. And then you talk about the talent. And, plus, I've developed friendships here.

How has your life changed since Game 7 of the World Series?

Morton: My life hasn't changed at all. I think people's perception of me has changed. I guess my perception of myself would have changed if I had been in a different stage of my career, of my life, maybe. If I had been younger, maybe I would've started thinking, “Man, I'm really good.” (Laughs) But I know how fickle this whole thing is. This idea of the perception of success, what makes somebody successful, what is considered to be successful, I think pitching well in the playoffs, that was a byproduct of who I am, but it didn't make me who I am. I think the failures made me who I am. I think I'm more appreciative of the failures or the challenges than any successes I've had because the successes are just windows in time where things align and go your way.

What does Charlie Morton do when he's not at the ballpark?

Morton: The biggest thing is spending time with my family. That's what I love doing. But I also play guitar. I sing. I read. I play video games. I got into coffee, like actual espresso grinding and pulling some shots. A little barista action. I got into woodworking when I was rehabbing from TJ (in 2012). That's something that I like doing. I'm not really like a super crafty person, but that would be something I would consider a craft that I've gotten into. I really like barbecue. I have two smokers. I have a nice big offset that I got last offseason that I spent a lot of time on this offseason.

(The Mortons live in Bradenton, Fla., in the offseason.)

I know you're not on social media of any kind but that you have been made aware of the CFM movement on Twitter. Any thoughts on your new middle name?

Morton: Yeah, Gatty (Evan Gattis) told me. (Laughs) No. I don't have any thoughts. I appreciate it when people fondly assign you a nickname. So, when people started calling me “Ground Chuck” in Pittsburgh, I was like, “That's pretty cool.” I appreciate the sentiment behind it, like if it's enthusiastic or positive. But a big reason why I avoid social media is there's so much negativity on social media.

Gerrit says there has been talk of making CFM T-shirts for the pitchers.

Morton: Oh. Well, they were talking about making T-shirts for each of the starting pitchers. I was like, “OK. Well, can I pick the name?” They said yes, but apparently that's not the case anymore.

Do you think it's time to retire the “Ground Chuck” nickname given the way you pitch now is so much different?

Morton: What's my ground-ball rate? If my ground-ball rate's over 50 percent, that's still a ground-ball pitcher.

(Morton has a 60.3 groundball percentage to go with his 11.9 strikeouts per nine.)

But you're striking so many more guys out.

Morton: Well, that's the thing, too. People are like, “Oh, you're so much better of a pitcher.” Well, I'm a different pitcher, certainly. I'm striking more people out, and I'm throwing harder. But I don't consider myself to be a drastically better pitcher. If I look at my numbers and I'm completely honest with myself … “All right. Were you healthy? Did you figure some things out?” And then I kind of try to move the numbers around within a certain frame of time, beginning in 2011, and I think to myself, “If I'm being completely honest with myself, I don't think I'm throwing drastically better.” When you mentioned like this stretch I'm going through, like I've gone through stretches where I threw really well and those abruptly ended with a game where I gave up seven-plus runs. (Laughs)

You're very pessimistic.

Morton: I'm just realistic. These things happen. You look at yourself differently, people look at you differently and then all of a sudden something happens and they don't look at you that way anymore. You don't look at yourself that way anymore. So, I'm just going to completely avoid looking at myself that way in the first place. I'm going to go out there and just try to get an out at a time and see where that leads me. People talk about mentality being like the biggest part of the game, right? Well, maybe it's my mentality that's changed over time. It's not like I didn't throw hard before. I wasn't sitting 95, 96 miles an hour, but I was throwing harder than average. If I'm averaging 92, 93 miles an hour, that's still a weapon. But maybe my mentality has changed. I don't really know. Honestly, I'm trying to appreciate the moments because, like we just discussed, my career's winding down. It could be this year, next year, but I'm not going to keep playing for a long time. I can promise you that. I'm not going to keep playing four, five, six, seven more years.

 

 

Wow, what a terrific interview--thank you so much for sharing.

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I'm a subscriber, and I think it's well worth the money. Daily content from Kaplan is really good, and they get articles periodically from some other contributors focused on the Astros (@astroscounty and @tylercstafford). Add the articles from really top level national writers (Rosenthal, Stark and Gammons) and it's a no brainer. Also, the CFB content is high quality as well.

If anyone wants to subscribe, please use the following link (LINK), so I can get some credit. Thx!

 

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Q&A: Charlie Morton on breaking out late in his career, his uncertain future and his new nickname


By Jake Kaplan 2h ago  4  
Charlie Morton, known during his Pittsburgh days as “Ground Chuck,” has been reborn in Houston, new nickname and all.

These days, he is Charlie Freaking Morton – substitute your F word of choice if you wish – or simply CFM. Since he closed out the 2017 World Series, the #CFM hashtag has become a rallying cry for Astros fans on Twitter. It's even recognized by the team's official Twitter account, which routinely includes it in posts about the revelatory No. 5 starter.

The Astros' pitchers get a kick out of it, too; they've discussed ordering custom-made CFM T-shirts. Morton, an inquisitive 34-year-old with a dry sense of humor, is beloved in Houston's clubhouse and would be even if he hadn't twice been a Game 7 hero last fall. “The nicest cat on the planet,” is how Gerrit Cole, a friend of five years, describes him.

Through this season's first few weeks, Morton has also been the Astros' best pitcher. In four starts and 25 innings, the 6-foot-5 righthander has a 0.72 ERA, best in the American League and second in the majors behind Johnny Cueto (0.35). After breaking out at the age of 33, he's somehow throwing even harder a year later. A free agent at season's end, he's pitching his way into qualifying offer territory if he can stay healthy, the variable that held him back for so many years.

“He's a killer on the mound,” said Cole, the first-year Astro who was a teammate of Morton with the Pirates from 2013-15. “He thinks his career's over after every time he pitches. But every time he gets on the mound, he wants to beat your ass.”

Despite his recent run, Morton, whose pro career dates to 2002, still isn't sure how much longer he wants to pitch. He has openly discussed the possibility of retiring after even this season to spend more time with his wife, Cindy, and their three kids: 4-year-old Cam (Charles Alfred Morton V), 3-year-old Grace and 1-year-old Benjamin. It's difficult to imagine a pitcher hanging it up coming off the quality of season Morton appears poised to have, though. Regardless of his age, he's one of the game's hardest throwers, and his curveball is as devastating as ever.

Morton has some “most interesting man in baseball”-type qualities. He is thoughtful and curious by nature, and it often leads to questions out of left field about topics such as the solar system. He might at times be regarded as pessimistic, but he prefers to describe himself as realistic. In interviews, his articulate responses can span minutes, sometimes with long pauses as he ruminates on a question.

His quirkiness also occasionally manifests in games he's pitching. In the fourth inning of his start Thursday at Seattle, Robinson Canó smoked a line drive off Morton's right arm, which prompted a mound visit from Astros head athletic trainer Jeremiah Randall and manager A.J. Hinch. After Morton swiftly proved he was fine by firing a couple of warm-up pitches to catcher Max Stassi, he turned to Randall, who was also his trainer with the Pirates.

“Do you want to do a clinical evaluation?,” he cracked.

Morton's next start is Tuesday night against the Angels and opposite Shohei Ohtani at Minute Maid Park. On Sunday, before the Astros' series finale in Chicago, he spoke at length to The Athletic about his fascinating career trajectory, his early 2018 success, his future and much more.

(This conversation has been lightly edited for clarity.)

As we sit here today, on the morning of April 22, you lead AL starters in ERA. You've gone at least six innings in all four starts and been scoreless in three of them. How?

Charlie Morton: (Laughs) I think I'm starting to get a better feel for where my stuff is, and I think Mac (Brian McCann) and Stass (Max Stassi) are starting to get a really good feel for how my stuff plays in our game plans going in and then just adjusting on the fly. When you go into a game, you have a certain plan about how you're going to attack a hitter, and, usually, those plans fall in line with typical sequences. Like, you establish your fastball, you get ahead with your fastball, and then you go to your secondary stuff. But you don't go to your secondary stuff too much because you don't want to fall behind or you don't want to let them see your secondary stuff too much. And that's basically gone out the window. And I think that (pitch) mix has helped. I think increased usage of my four-seam has helped because it gives hitters a different look off of my two-seam. And I think there has been a secondary pitch there to use, whether that's my changeup, my cutter or curveball.

Are you more confident on the mound?

Morton: I think that over time I've just become more at peace with my career and more at peace with life in general. I don't feel the stresses that I used to when I was trying to establish myself. It took me six years to get to the big leagues. It took me nine to get my first full year in. And then I started having success. In 2011, I was pitching really well. I remember at the end of June looking up and trying to figure out exactly where I was; I remember having like a 2-something ERA and like seven wins and two losses or something like that. That was the first time in my career where I had a string of really successful outings. I had two complete games. And then I went through a really rough stretch in 2011. The league started to adjust. I had dropped my arm slot. My pitches were a little bit different. I started learning that I actually could get outs in the big leagues. It was just the kind of volatility you might expect. And then I went on a streak of scoreless innings. I think I had 24 scoreless innings at some point during that season. And then I wound up having hip problems that season. I wound up having hip surgery at the end of the year. The next year, I was throwing OK for the first month, and then I tore my UCL in my elbow, had surgery a month later.

I'll go back and say that I think the beginning of the 2011 season, that's when my whole career changed for the better. Just from dropping my arm slot. I started using my sinker a lot more because my sinker had a lot more movement. I became more effective. So, if you go back and you look at the pitcher I've been since 2011, it's a good pitcher. It's not a great pitcher. But it's a legitimate, major-league starting pitcher. The problem I had was health, and I think that's the biggest thing that has changed for me. I had the lat injury last year that kept me out for a good amount of time, but there wasn't a catastrophic injury that took me out for a season.

You are a different pitcher in terms of velocity, which has been well documented. You sat mostly 90-93 with the Pirates. After last year when you had the huge spike, you're throwing even harder this year. How do you explain yet another uptick?

Morton: I don't know. It's one of those things where it's really frustrating to look back, just as much as it was to look back at 2011 for me. Because I began my professional career in 2002, and then you're always trying to get better, but it just seems hard. It just seems like it's not as easy as it should be. It shouldn't be easy, but there should be a moment where something clicks and you see a drastic improvement. Either that or a gradual improvement over time. Neither of those things were happening for me, 2002 to 2008, basically. In 2007, was when I made a couple of mechanical adjustments. I tried to like stay more upright and stay more closed. I started throwing really hard. In the fall league, I was throwing really hard out of the bullpen. But there was never this stretch of months or years where I was pitching well. I probably had like a career 5.00 ERA in the minor leagues. And then in the fall league in 2007, I started pitching really well. And the next couple months in Triple A, I started pitching really well. And that was the first time in five, six years where I had months of sustained success. And then I get called up to the big leagues, and the cycle starts all over again.

So, I never had a time where I felt like I belonged. I never had a feeling of being an established major leaguer. And the whole time, you're changing these things and you're trying to get better, but it's just not happening. So, the two things I think: my arm slot change and being more aware and taking care of my body. I remember just going in the weight room and just lifting and running and just doing it almost like a form of punishment but also because that's what was accepted. It was just move a lot of weight, try to be really big and strong and then go pitch.

My workouts changed after the 2015 season. In the offseason, we were doing phases. You get in the gym, and you do a bunch of high-rep stuff. Then you go heavier. And then you do more explosive stuff, more dynamic stuff. So, you become physically more dynamic. That helped my pitching; there's no question in my mind. That was like the biggest thing, just getting dynamically strong.

And then, also, the mentality that's changed for me. All of 2015 was really frustrating for me. I was coming off another surgery in 2014 for my hip. Then I came to spring training, and my stuff wasn't there. My location wasn't there. My delivery was a mess. By the end of the year, I was throwing angrily. I was frustrated. And if you go back and you look at my pitch speeds at the end of the year … I remember a game in Colorado. I remember looking up just to see where I was at, and it was still there. It was like 94 to 96, and it didn't matter. I still gave up like six runs. The next game, I think it was against the Cardinals at home, it was a crucial game. I think we were a game or two back in the division against the Cardinals. And I gave up like five runs in an inning or two, and I got booed off the field. That was the last time I pitched for the Pirates. That was when I knew that it was still in my arm. But I didn't know what to do with it. I was extremely frustrated.

So, that offseason I changed my workouts. I started working out with Andrew Emmick and Mike Gough. Mike owns a place in Lakewood Ranch, Florida. Tony Watson's there. Jim Johnson's there. Miguel González is there. Alex Presley. We had a nice little group down there, and the workouts just became better. My offseason became more productive. And then I came to spring training with the Phillies (in 2016), and then I looked up in spring training and it was like 95-96. I was like, “All right, this is great.” And then I had yet another injury (torn hamstring) and had surgery on that one. But the increase in pitch speed from then to last year to now; you say I'm throwing harder, I don't know. I consider anything over 95 like the same because that's really hard. But I don't know. I don't know how to explain it other than the change in my body, different workouts, getting stronger and the mentality.

(Note: Morton's four-seam fastball has averaged 96.63 mph this season, up from 96.10 mph in 2017, and 95.22 in 2016, according to Brooks Baseball. His two-seam fastball has averaged 96.07, up from 95.31 and 94.83, per Brooks. In 2015, his fastballs averaged 92.78 and 92.38.)

How has your curveball evolved since A.J. Burnett showed you the knuckle-curve grip in 2012 or 2013?

Morton: When he showed me that grip, I started to notice it was harder. And I would assume the spin was a little tighter, and I started to get more swing and misses. It had been a pitch where I could induce soft contact and get swing and misses, but it wasn't a go-to pitch. I guess primarily because my sinker was my go-to pitch. Like if you asked me, “Hey, what's your best pitch?” I would have said, “My sinker.” And I wouldn't even have thought twice about it. Now, I would say probably my curveball, especially against lefties. If I can throw it for strikes, I never feel like my back's against the wall. I used to. I used to feel like I had to make perfect pitches, and I felt like I didn't have many options.

You will be a free agent at season's end and turn 35 early in the offseason. How many more seasons do you want to pitch?

Morton: (Laughs) I don't know. I miss my family. Family is the most important thing to me. My wife has been incredible with how she's handled the change to becoming someone that is basically a support system. She had dreams of what she wanted to do with her life, and I'm sure it wasn't moving to wherever I was and revolving her life around what I was doing. But that's exactly what happened. And we've been really fortunate financially with the success I've had in my career. But it's not like I want to keep playing just to keep playing. Because I'm cognizant of her needs and wanting to do something for herself and also our kids, who would prefer to have me at home. My goals in baseball have pretty much been fulfilled. Now, it would be more about the situation overall. What's the group like in the clubhouse? Where would I be? Would I be closer to her family (in Delaware) in a spot where she would prefer to be? These are all variables that have to be taken into account. I'm not just going to keep playing because I can. The situation is going to have to be right. I would probably keep playing if I was single and didn't have a wife and kids. But that's really what gives me the most fulfillment, is my family. The most important thing to me is my family. It's undoubtedly my family.

So, is there a scenario where this is your last year?

Morton: Yeah. … The situation would dictate whether or not I keep playing. Am I healthy? Probably the biggest question would be my health. What am I doing? Am I rehabbing from something? Am I rehabbing from another surgery? Like, you don't know. But kind of the way my career has been the last five to six years, where I've been dealing with not just injuries but surgeries and lengthy rehabs — that would be a factor. How am I pitching? How am I pitching at the end of the year? What do contract offers look like? Where are those teams that are offering the contracts? Where are they located? All of these things are going to factor into it, and then we're going to make a decision. But I'm not going to make a decision on that April 22nd.

Have you had any discussions with the Astros about a potential extension?

Morton: I haven't.

Has your agent?

Morton: I don't know. I'm sure he's discussed it vaguely with them because I know he's spoken to representatives from the Astros. But any particulars? Not that I'm aware of.

(Morton is represented by Andrew Lowenthal of Jet Sports Management.)

How would you feel about the possibility of remaining with the Astros as opposed to testing the open market and seeing what's out there?

Morton: I would rather be with the Astros. I think I fit in well here, and I think the group here is special. Very special. So, this is the kind of situation that would be optimal, aside from it being a little further away from her family. But when you think about a team that you want to play for, a team like this is it. To me, this is as good as it gets, a team like this, the group that's in there, the front office staff, ownership, the coaching staff, just the quality of the people. And then you talk about the talent. And, plus, I've developed friendships here.

How has your life changed since Game 7 of the World Series?

Morton: My life hasn't changed at all. I think people's perception of me has changed. I guess my perception of myself would have changed if I had been in a different stage of my career, of my life, maybe. If I had been younger, maybe I would've started thinking, “Man, I'm really good.” (Laughs) But I know how fickle this whole thing is. This idea of the perception of success, what makes somebody successful, what is considered to be successful, I think pitching well in the playoffs, that was a byproduct of who I am, but it didn't make me who I am. I think the failures made me who I am. I think I'm more appreciative of the failures or the challenges than any successes I've had because the successes are just windows in time where things align and go your way.

What does Charlie Morton do when he's not at the ballpark?

Morton: The biggest thing is spending time with my family. That's what I love doing. But I also play guitar. I sing. I read. I play video games. I got into coffee, like actual espresso grinding and pulling some shots. A little barista action. I got into woodworking when I was rehabbing from TJ (in 2012). That's something that I like doing. I'm not really like a super crafty person, but that would be something I would consider a craft that I've gotten into. I really like barbecue. I have two smokers. I have a nice big offset that I got last offseason that I spent a lot of time on this offseason.

(The Mortons live in Bradenton, Fla., in the offseason.)

I know you're not on social media of any kind but that you have been made aware of the CFM movement on Twitter. Any thoughts on your new middle name?

Morton: Yeah, Gatty (Evan Gattis) told me. (Laughs) No. I don't have any thoughts. I appreciate it when people fondly assign you a nickname. So, when people started calling me “Ground Chuck” in Pittsburgh, I was like, “That's pretty cool.” I appreciate the sentiment behind it, like if it's enthusiastic or positive. But a big reason why I avoid social media is there's so much negativity on social media.

Gerrit says there has been talk of making CFM T-shirts for the pitchers.

Morton: Oh. Well, they were talking about making T-shirts for each of the starting pitchers. I was like, “OK. Well, can I pick the name?” They said yes, but apparently that's not the case anymore.

Do you think it's time to retire the “Ground Chuck” nickname given the way you pitch now is so much different?

Morton: What's my ground-ball rate? If my ground-ball rate's over 50 percent, that's still a ground-ball pitcher.

(Morton has a 60.3 groundball percentage to go with his 11.9 strikeouts per nine.)

But you're striking so many more guys out.

Morton: Well, that's the thing, too. People are like, “Oh, you're so much better of a pitcher.” Well, I'm a different pitcher, certainly. I'm striking more people out, and I'm throwing harder. But I don't consider myself to be a drastically better pitcher. If I look at my numbers and I'm completely honest with myself … “All right. Were you healthy? Did you figure some things out?” And then I kind of try to move the numbers around within a certain frame of time, beginning in 2011, and I think to myself, “If I'm being completely honest with myself, I don't think I'm throwing drastically better.” When you mentioned like this stretch I'm going through, like I've gone through stretches where I threw really well and those abruptly ended with a game where I gave up seven-plus runs. (Laughs)

You're very pessimistic.

Morton: I'm just realistic. These things happen. You look at yourself differently, people look at you differently and then all of a sudden something happens and they don't look at you that way anymore. You don't look at yourself that way anymore. So, I'm just going to completely avoid looking at myself that way in the first place. I'm going to go out there and just try to get an out at a time and see where that leads me. People talk about mentality being like the biggest part of the game, right? Well, maybe it's my mentality that's changed over time. It's not like I didn't throw hard before. I wasn't sitting 95, 96 miles an hour, but I was throwing harder than average. If I'm averaging 92, 93 miles an hour, that's still a weapon. But maybe my mentality has changed. I don't really know. Honestly, I'm trying to appreciate the moments because, like we just discussed, my career's winding down. It could be this year, next year, but I'm not going to keep playing for a long time. I can promise you that. I'm not going to keep playing four, five, six, seven more years.

 

 

used your link, subscribed, thanks

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IDIOTsavant

IDIOTsavant 8,502

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Posted
34 minutes ago, APMP said:

I'm gonna subscribe to the Athletic as soon as they hire beat writers for the Rockets and Texans as well.

Do it now. One of the best things about the Athletic site is that they'll actually respond to the comments for each article. Let them know you want more Houston coverage. Also, one of the Surly posters above said he just signed up for like $30 for the year. That's the cheapest I've seen. I paid $50 and still feel like its well worth it.

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Amos Moses

Amos Moses 795

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Posted

Just a little sip of Kool-Aid:

Has-the-astros-staff-jumped-the-indians

Spoiler

1. The Indians’ rotation was one of the best in the modern era last year, producing 23.1 wins above replacement, good for a 4.3-WAR lead over the second-ranking Diamondbacks (18.8). By some measures, the Indians had the best staff of all time. It was the strength of a team that secured the No. 1 seed in the AL playoff field. Last season the Indians became the first pitching staff to average 10 strikeouts per nine innings in major-league history. And this season the starting staff is arguably deeper and stronger with Trevor Bauer having turned a corner in performance in the second half which has carried over, and Mike Clevinger — who pitched a shutout Saturday — having reached another level in performance.

Yet, the Indians might be losing their competitive advantage when it comes to starting rotations.

The Astros acquired a front-line starter at the deadline last season in Justin Verlander, who helped them to a World Series title. Houston acquired another potential ace this offseason in Gerrit Cole, who, like so many pitchers, has found another level with the Astros. It’s early, but the Indians’ rotation trails the Astros and Red Sox in WAR, ERA, FIP and strikeouts in the American League.

The Astros’ starters have a remarkable 2.10 ERA (3.05 FIP) to date and are striking out 11.1 batters per nine innings. The Red Sox’ starter are not far behind with a 2.43 ERA (2.78 FIP), striking out 9.8 batters per nine innings. The Indians are the No. 3-ERA team in the AL at 2.66, and fourth in 3.76 FIP, but they are averaging just 7.6 strikeouts per nine early this season.

As talented as the Indians’ staff is, the Astros might have a historically great staff, and with health, they threaten to break a number of marks set by Corey Kluber and company last season. The Astros look like an overwhelming favorite in the AL.

 

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closetojumping

closetojumping 62,891

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2 hours ago, Horny Bull said:

 

I hate sounding like a whiner, but good grief, Gattis has a sub .600 OPS for his career when playing DH. He's great when catching or even playing somewhere (gulp) in the OF. McCann's splits don't change much when he's a DH. I'd like to see them swap positions occasionally. 

Separately, Marisnick is playing way too much. Give me Reddick and his sub-.700 career OPS against lefties vs. Marisnick against anyone. 

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