{"id":54057,"date":"2025-05-10T02:31:32","date_gmt":"2025-05-10T02:31:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=54057"},"modified":"2025-05-10T02:31:32","modified_gmt":"2025-05-10T02:31:32","slug":"report-braves-decision-to-move-on-from-veteran-starter-looking-like-stroke-of-genius","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=54057","title":{"rendered":"REPORT: Braves decision to move on from veteran starter looking like stroke of genius"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_171,w_7958,h_4476\/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images\/GettyImages\/mmsport\/17\/01jtrtgbjfr4dx96kzaf.jpg\" alt=\"Baltimore Orioles v Detroit Tigers - Game Two\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"mx-auto max-w-[1112px] px-5 pb-4\">\n<article id=\"main-article\" class=\"mx-auto lg:mx-0 max-w-[800px] lg:max-w-none\">\n<div class=\"flex flex-wrap\">\n<div class=\"flex mr-4 lg:w-[calc(70%-3em)] max-w-full\">\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"viewablity-block\">\n<div class=\"article-content\">\n<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">The Atlanta Braves decided to part ways with right-hander Charlie Morton this offseason, which\u00a0caused fans to react with mixed emotions.\u00a0He was a great part of Atlanta&#8217;s rotation over the last few years, and it makes sense why fans would want him back.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">Morton tossed 686.1 innings for the Braves from 2021 to 2024 with a 3.87 ERA, 269 walks, and 771 strikeouts. Those are impressive numbers for a pitcher at the end of his career.<\/p>\n<p class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">However, his inconsistency in 2024 gave Atlanta pause about adding the 41-year-old to their 2025 roster.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"scroll-mt-24 my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">Charlie Morton&#8217;s struggles prove the Braves were right to move on<\/h2>\n<p>The Orioles decided to give Uncle Charlie a shot with\u00a0a one-year, $15 million contract.\u00a0It has not gone the way they&#8217;d hoped it would. Morton is having a really rough season and has yet to win a game for Baltimore.<\/p>\n<p>He&#8217;s 0-7 on the season with a shocking 9.38 ERA through 31.2 innings pitched. The former Brave leads MLB with the most earned runs allowed (33) and leads the AL with the most walks issued (22). Yes, he is older, but it&#8217;s still strange to see him struggle so badly.<\/p>\n<p>A deeper look into Morton&#8217;s metrics show exactly why he is having such poor results.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"min-h-[550px]\">\n<div class=\"twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered\"><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" class=\"\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1920486708816097702&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fhousethathankbuilt.com%2Fbraves-decision-to-move-on-from-veteran-starter-looking-like-stroke-of-genius&amp;sessionId=66a11567d599a5db7764a79d1926552d5ccc6fa4&amp;siteScreenName=HouseHankBuilt&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&amp;width=550px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>Charlie Morton is having a really bad year. Yeah, I know, he&#8217;s 41, and that probably explains most of it. But I went to Statcast to see what exactly changed.<\/p>\n<p>His curveball, once in the 100th percentile (great) is now in the 1st percentile (terrible).<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s all pretty bad.\u00a0pic.twitter.com\/POQRSVfUNN<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Grant McAuley (@grantmcauley) May 8, 2025<\/figure>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">Morton is known for having a great curveball with a high spin rate.<\/p>\n<p class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">That pitch has betrayed him this season, and it&#8217;s caused his groundball rate to drop into one of the worst in baseball.<\/p>\n<p class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">For example, last season, he finished with a 47.2% groundball rate, which was in the 75th percentile. In 2025, it has dropped to the 39th percentile, and his breaking run value is at a putrid -7 (it was at a 2 last season).<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">Opponents are batting .357 against the curveball with a .667 slugging percentage. Ironically, teams are only batting .171 against his fastball that averages 93.8 mph, but his secondary pitches are getting destroyed.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">It&#8217;s hard to see Morton struggle this badly as he&#8217;s a great teammate and human being. However, it seems like Father Time may have finally caught up with him.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; The Atlanta Braves decided to part ways with right-hander Charlie Morton this offseason, which\u00a0caused fans to react with mixed emotions.\u00a0He was a great part of Atlanta&#8217;s&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":54058,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>REPORT: Braves decision to move on from veteran starter looking like stroke of genius - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=54057\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"REPORT: Braves decision to move on from veteran starter looking like stroke of genius - NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&nbsp; 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