Starting Pitchers

Charlie Morton Scouting Report

From JT’s series preview

Charlie Morton has been more top of the rotation pitcher this year than the backend starter people thought the Astros were signing after the 2016 season. He has a 2.54 ERA and 3.55 FIP in 95.2 innings. In his last start he held the Blue Jays scoreless for 7.0 innings. The Rays managed one unearned run off him in 6.0 innings earlier this season.

His repertoire, per Brooks Baseball

In 2018, he has relied primarily on his Fourseam Fastball (97mph), Curve using a Knuckle Curve grip (80mph) and Sinker using a Two-seam Fastball grip (96mph), also mixing in a Cutter (89mph) and Splitter (88mph). He also rarely throws a Slider (87mph).

His fourseam fastball has an obvious tail, is blazing fast, generates more whiffs/swing compared to other pitchers’ fourseamers, has some natural sinking action and results in somewhat more groundballs compared to other pitchers’ fourseamers. His curve generates an extremely high number of swings & misses compared to other pitchers’ curves, has sweeping glove-side movement, has a sharp downward bite and is slightly harder than usual. His sinker generates an extremely high number of swings & misses compared to other pitchers’ sinkers, is blazing fast, results in many more groundballs compared to other pitchers’ sinkers, has slight armside run and has some natural sinking action. His cutter generates an extremely high number of swings & misses compared to other pitchers’ cutters, has heavy sink, generates a very high amount of groundballs compared to other pitchers’ cutters and has strong cutting action. His splitter has an obvious armside fade, is much firmer than usual and results in somewhat more groundballs compared to other pitchers’ splitters. His slider (take this with a grain of salt because he’s only thrown 3 of them in 2018) generates an extremely high number of swings & misses compared to other pitchers’ sliders, has exceptional depth, is an extreme flyball pitch compared to other pitchers’ sliders and has short glove-side cut.