'The pride is in the grind': Once a disaster, Charlie Morton is now resurgent in vintage style
Amid the chaos of a tumultuous Baltimore Orioles season, a veteran hurler has (re)emerged as a bright spot on a team fighting through injury and roster uncertainty. All in a year that has reminded him all too much of what it means to be a major leaguer. After struggling to find his footing in the big leagues throughout the first nine years of his major league career, Charlie Morton successfully reinvented himself and by the late 2010s had become a go-to starter. In 2017, he helped propel the Houston Astros to a World Series championship and did the same in 2021 with the Atlanta Braves, the organization that drafted and developed him through its minor league system. But it seemed like age was finally catching up with the veteran pitcher. Morton signed a one-year, $15 million deal with the Orioles this past offseason as a starting pitcher who had established himself with 17 years of MLB experience and a nasty curveball. Throughout the first weeks of the season, it seemed like it might be one of the worst signings of the offseason. Morton got off to one of his worst starts in 10 seasons, with an abysmal earned run average through his first five starts. It forced the Orioles to make a tough decision: move Morton to the bullpen. By all accounts, Morton took the news like a pros pro. But what bothered him the most was the guilt. "When there are people in the room that are counting on you, and there's an organization that's counting on you, and a city that's counting on you, and there are expectations, and then you stink — that's hard," Morton told CNN Sports. After being moved to the bullpen, it's likely any other 41-year-old would have seen the writing on the wall, but Morton never wavered. Since his stint in the bullpen, Morton has posted a 2.70 ERA over 46.2 innings pitched. "At age 41, he still has the fight to scratch and claw for the next inch and the next percent," Orioles pitching coach Drew French told CNN Sports. But the reality is that Morton is facing what every professional must face eventually: Father Time. The thought of retirement has lingered in Morton's head for a long time now, five years to be exact. But still, Morton has decided to play until baseball is done with him, not the other way around. "You're doing something that you love and you care about and you put a lot of time into it and you have an opportunity to go do it," Morton said. "You don't get to that point unless there's something deep inside you that's driving you." The foundation for Morton's latest ride as a reliable starter in 2025 had largely already been established; getting through a flurry of rough patches in the majors, coupled with the benefit of more than a decade and a half of big-league pitching, made it an easier pill to swallow. Still, at his age and on a new team, the odds were against him. "It's like your body is just telling you 'No,' but you just keep going," Morton told CNN Sports. While the Orioles staff as a collective put a plan in place, it was pitching coach Drew French who helped guide Morton through the mental gymnastics of the move. By their own admission, French and the Orioles coaching staff were late in identifying the pitfalls that led to Morton's early struggles this season. Once they got a grasp on where his current strengths lay, it was time to act. And then the time came to deliver the news. "It wasn't a tough conversation at all; (Charlie's) one of the more realistic guys, just in terms of knowing where his feet are, he knew that he might not be helping the team all that much in the role but, but he wants to provide support and help where he can," French said. The move to the bullpen was a decision Morton saw as ethically and morally best for the team, even if it left him in a frustrating spot. "I'm not helping the team, and I'm not around for my wife and my kids. So, what am I doing?" Morton questioned. But it was French and his staff who reassured Morton about the plan. The pair go back to their time with the Astros, when French was a minor league pitching coach. It's a rare player-to-coach relationship that involves a younger coach, whom Morton playfully refers to as "Frenchie," and a slightly older player, whom French describes as "more barked." "We're in a very similar place in life. We can have very real conversations, and we really know where we're at and what's important to us right now," French said. "Even at 41, there's still some insecurity, you know. And I think if any of these players told you that they don't have that from time to time, they're liars. And it's our job to make them feel a little bit more entrenched and a little bit more secure about the plan." Those conversations ultimately led to Morton making six appearances from the bullpen. In that time, the game slowed down for the righthander and his arm began relaxing. And he never lost the belief that he can still throw heat, which also played a key role in restoring success on the mound. Soon enough, Morton made a return to the starting rotation. "I've done it all. Going to the bullpen for six or seven outings; it's not the end of the world. It's just a really unfortunate thing that had to happen," Morton explained. Last season, when the Braves played the Orioles in Baltimore, a young Orioles pitcher, Dean Kremer — who is now Morton's teammate — ran into Morton during pregame. Kremer asked Morton, "Hey man, how do you do what you do?" Even as a then 16-year major league veteran, a two-time World champion, a two-time All-Star and even as the second oldest player in Major League Baseball, Morton smiled and replied: "I'm still trying to figure things out myself too, pal." A unique perspective married up with his ability to bounce back from injury and rough stretches has made Morton a one-of-a-kind pitcher. "The way he perceives the game is unlike any other player that I've been around and the conversations that we have are unlike any other conversations that I've ever had with players," noted French. Morton is often soft spoken, and even though he's even keeled on the mound, he's introspective and hard on himself even after his best outings. Instead, he takes pleasure in the little things that make up a baseball career. "The pride is in the grind. I think the pride is in the fact that I wasn't always really good, I didn't always pitch well and I wasn't always healthy. I didn't always help my team. I think the pride is in the fact that it took me a while to get it going," Morton told CNN Sports. What Morton has become in the late stages of his career is a solid veteran presence in the clubhouse, both as leader and a role model for a young Orioles team. "The presence and the way other people perceive the way he works is huge for a young clubhouse," teammate Jordan Westburg said, "We're all rooting for him." And that's part of the reason why Morton chose the Orioles as his current destination, reminding him of the young championship teams he joined in Houston and Atlanta. "The idea of an exciting group, young and talented, where I felt like I could fit in, maybe as an older guy in the mix," Morton told CNN Sports. Add in Orioles spring training in Sarasota, Florida, being a short 30-minute drive from Morton's home in Bradenton and having family in the mid-Atlantic area and it felt like a perfect match. Despite his familiar role in Baltimore, Morton still faces an internal struggle. On one hand, he's nearly touching 97 mph with his fastball in a season when he feels he's pitching better than last year; on the other, his children are getting older, and it's become harder to be away from his family. "I have that part of my heart that is the biggest part: wanting to go home and be with my family," Morton said. On America's birthday, Morton took the mound for his 11th start of the season and tossed more than five innings for the fourth straight time. The other team, meanwhile, trotted out one of the most recognizable pitchers in the game, Spencer Strider, who was in elementary school when Morton first got to the big leagues. The Orioles took the game in large part thanks to Morton shutting down the Braves until the sixth inning when he allowed a two-run home run. Still, it was enough to propel the Orioles to win the game. Fifteen years older, Morton was still able to outduel his protege, Strider. "I've been here (Atlanta) long enough where we've had so many guys that you really notice their absence, and I'd say (Charlie) is at the top of the list," Strider told CNN Sports. The next game, the Braves honored Morton with a video board tribute during the middle of the second inning. Morton walked onto the field, removed his hat and acknowledged the appreciative crowd. "I grew up paying attention to the pitchers in the 90s and the teams in the 90s, and then got drafted," Morton told CNN Sports. "Atlanta and the Braves organization will always be a special place and special team for me." It was a brief moment that captured the outsized impact the longtime pitcher had on his former organization. "He was big. Probably more than we realized at the time," 2021 World Series-winning Braves manager Brian Snitker said. "He's going to be a friend for life. I have so much respect for him as a person and father, husband, and a ballplayer." Despite being soft spoken, Morton tends to make an impression in a clubhouse, of any kind, whether it's with a title contender or with a struggling team. There's no question about his leadership qualities. "He's a tremendous person and he was an exemplary individual as well as a leader in the clubhouse," former teammate and All-Star Ronald Acuña Jr. told CNN Sports. "And everybody's got different ways of leading, and you have to respect that." As the ultimate veteran, Morton has earned every level of respect in the majors. And all indications are he's determined to pitch for as long as possible. "It's hard to walk away from the game that you love but at some point, you've got to do it… you got to walk away," Morton said. With aspirations to continue winning and a supportive family, everyone is happy to see the father of four stay on the mound a bit longer. 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'The pride is in the grind': Once a disaster, Charlie Morton is now resurgent in vintage style Amid the chaos of a tumultuous Baltim...
