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Charlie Morton 2019 Outlook: Still Younger than Father Time
6 years agoCharlie Morton’s 2018 was the strongest season of his career, but as his age-35 season, managers are likely to remain skeptical. The good news is that Morton’s numbers in 2018 looked remarkably like his numbers in 2017 season, which was also quite good. His plate discipline metrics show a pitcher capable of getting batters to chase outside the zone and of generating strong swinging-strike rates, despite a healthy walk rate. Fortunately, Morton’s ability to generate outs seems largely unaffected by his above-average walks as his 19.7 K-BB% was good enough for 14th among qualified leaders. It would be ill-advised to expect another 3.13 ERA in 2019, but Morton’s Steamer projection of 152 IP with a 3.49 and a 168 Ks means that he can be a valuable piece again this year. At the age of 35, any season could be Morton’s last, but his late-career blossoming seems comparable to Rich Hill, who has been a low-cost pitcher capable of serving as an SP1 for periods of time.
