DETROIT -- Charlie Morton is a World Series hero from 2017, a two-time champion and a seven-year postseason veteran. He has more experience in big late-season games than some of his Tigers teammates have Major League experience overall. He has seen more and done more than anyone on Detroit’s pitching staff.
But what the Tigers saw from him Friday night might put the team at a crossroads with what to do with their veteran starter and Trade Deadline acquisition.
There was Morton, an 18-year Major League veteran, walking off the mound in the second inning, pulled by manager A.J. Hinch after six runs, five hits, a hit batter -- the 200th of his career -- and just four outs. He headed to the dugout to a shower of boos from an announced crowd of 33,554. The murmurs of concern from the crowd over the previous couple days turned to vocal frustration at an outing that compounded the Tigers’ struggles and sent them to their seventh loss in eight games.
Friday’s 10-1 loss to the Braves was the 408th regular-season start of Morton’s career. At 1 1/3 innings, it tied for his ninth-shortest start in terms of outs recorded. He hadn’t tossed a shorter outing since Sept. 22, 2023, when he was pitching for Atlanta -- the team that just roughed him up.
The Tigers were desperately seeking a change in momentum Friday after three closely played losses to the Guardians cut Detroit’s AL Central lead nearly in half. Morton’s start only sped up the Tigers’ slide. His outing wasn’t competitive, putting Detroit down big and leaving its bullpen with more than seven innings to cover.
The outing also leaves Hinch and pitching coach Chris Fetter with a decision to make next week, when the Tigers could well be fighting for a postseason spot. Morton’s rotation spot currently lines up for next Thursday in Cleveland, the finale of a three-game series that could end up determining the AL Central champion. The Tigers could use Monday’s off-day to move up Keider Montero and skip Morton. They would still need a fifth starter or bullpen game during next weekend’s three-game series in Boston that could also carry postseason implications.
The Tigers tried to rally Friday, but other than Spencer Torkelson’s fourth-inning solo homer -- his 30th home run of the season -- they did little against Atlanta starter Bryce Elder, who struck out six Tigers over seven innings, his fourth outing of six-plus innings of one-run ball over his last five starts.