If Baltimore Orioles veteran right-hander Charlie Morton was already on thin ice heading into his latest start against the Cincinnati Reds, he’s fully underwater now.
His struggles from the mound early in the 2025 MLB campaign have been a popular topic of discussion, and somehow, they keep getting worse.
The Reds clobbered Morton and the Orioles, beating them 24-2 to wrap up a three-game series in Baltimore. Cincinnati scored three touchdowns (and kicked a field goal for good measure) to hand the O’s their biggest blowout loss in nearly two decades. Yeesh.
Morton couldn’t even get through three innings before getting yanked, tallying as many outs as he did hits and seven earned runs — seven.
It was the last reminder that the Orioles are asking too much of a 41-year-old hurler who’s contemplated retirement over the past several offseasons.
And based on manager Brandon Hyde’s postgame comments, patience is running thin to the point that hanging up the cleats midseason doesn’t sound too bad.
Brandon Hyde sounds off after Charlie Morton, Orioles’ 24-2 loss
“It’s embarrassing. It’s not what you want to do on Easter Sunday in front of your home crowd,” Hyde stated (h/t Jake Rill of MLB.com). “You want to compete.”
Baltimore did quite the opposite of competing; they rolled over.
The O’s rotation continues to plague them, namely Morton, who fell to 0-5 after getting rocked by the Reds. Hyde hasn’t shied away from voicing his frustrations about the club’s starting pitching (or lack thereof), with this seemingly being the last straw.
Hyde understands the O’s need more and better production from their rotation, which ranks dead last in the Majors in WAR (-2.0).
The group’s shortcomings have put immense pressure on Baltimore’s bullpen. That’s not a recipe for success, and the skipper knows it.
“You’re just not going to be able to win games that way,” Hyde said. “You’re going to win them once in a while because you’re going to outscore teams, but that’s not how you win Major League Baseball games.”
Sporting an egregious 10.89 ERA and leading the league in earned runs allowed (25), Morton’s done more harm than good for Baltimore this season.
Meanwhile, he was supposed to be their big free agency addition this past winter, hence Hyde’s palpable exasperation.
