BALTIMORE -- The first month of Charlie Morton’s first season with the Orioles -- the 18th of his MLB career -- did not go to plan. The 41-year-old right-hander said he would often wake up in the morning and wonder why that was the case.
The pitches coming out of Morton’s hand still looked good. He still physically felt up to par. He still had the motivation to be a big league pitcher -- and a successful one, like he had been in recent years, which led Baltimore to sign him to a $15 million deal for 2025.
As Morton sought answers and worked to correct the issues leading to the undesirable results, his mindset never changed.
“I didn’t want to go out that way,” Morton said.
Monday proved he may just not.
Following a month-long reset in the bullpen, Morton was reinserted into the Orioles’ rotation for a Memorial Day matchup vs. the Cardinals at Camden Yards. The veteran proceeded to deliver his best performance thus far, cruising for the majority of a season-high six innings and allowing only two runs in the O’s 5-2 victory.
Baltimore (19-34) has won three consecutive games for the first time this year, and it won a game that featured Morton for the first time, as the club was previously 0-12 when the righty pitched (six starts and six relief appearances). Morton (41 years and 195 days old) also became the oldest pitcher in O’s history (since 1954) to record a quality start.
Morton’s strong 86-pitch outing -- which featured five strikeouts and only four hits allowed, including Pedro Pagés two-run homer in the fifth accounting for all of St. Louis’ offense -- rewarded the patience of the Orioles, who remained “very confident” he could get on track, as interim manager Tony Mansolino put it.
“He’s got a long track record,” Mansolino said. “We knew that we kind of needed to take our foot off the gas with him a little bit and give him a chance to kind of fix himself. A guy that’s been that successful for so long, it probably shouldn’t be that big of a surprise.”
After going 0-5 with a 10.89 ERA over his first five O’s starts, Morton was sent to the bullpen. At first, the results weren’t much better (a 6.43 ERA in his first three relief outings). Then, something clicked in Anaheim on May 10, when he tossed two perfect innings.
Morton has a 2.35 ERA in 15 1/3 innings over his past four appearances, the most recent earning him his first Orioles win.
“It’s a momentum type of thing. It’s a vibe. It’s a feeling,” Morton said. “It’s not just one single win, it’s just a feeling. And I think I started to feel better a couple weeks ago, and I’m glad they gave me some chances to get some innings and then start to feel it again and kind of feel like I was more back to myself.”
For Morton, the most frustrating part of his slow start was the inefficiency of his curveball, which had been his bread-and-butter pitch in the latter stages of his career. His four-seam fastball velocity was still there -- as it was again Monday, when his heater averaged 94.3 mph and maxed out at 96.2 -- but the curve wasn’t fooling hitters.
But it is now. Morton induced a season-high 10 whiffs with the curveball, which he threw 36 times, his most in any outing this year.
“Knowing that it was still coming out good and knowing that there was probably something going on that I just needed to fix, but I couldn’t figure it out, I just slowed it down a little bit,” Morton said. “Trying to gather myself over the rubber a little bit and let my arm work naturally and just backing off just a little bit gave me that feel a little bit again. Hopefully, I’m on a better track.”
One teammate seemed to think so.
“He was attacking hitters in the zone, and it was great playing behind him, great pace,” said outfielder Dylan Carlson, who provided the bulk of Baltimore’s offense with a three-run homer against his former team in the fourth.
All of a sudden, the Orioles are playing better baseball. Their rotation ERA may still be 5.54 (28th in MLB), but the team has gotten three consecutive stellar showings from Trevor Rogers (6 1/3 scoreless innings vs. the Red Sox on Saturday), Dean Kremer (5 1/3 scoreless in Boston on Sunday) and Morton.
The tides could be turning for both the O’s and Morton, who hopes to be a part of helping the club right the ship via his own personal improvement.
“It’s about: Can I still contribute to a team, and a group that’s paying me a lot of money, to guys that are trying to embrace me, a coaching staff, a manager that’s giving me opportunities?” Morton said. “That’s what I want.”