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Former Orioles veteran receives brutal 'award' from Hall of Fame writer

Originally posted on Baltimore Orioles on SI
By Kenneth Teape | Last updated Sep 26, 2025 3:00 PM ET

The Baltimore Orioles' strategy towards addressing their pitching staff last offseason left a lot of people scratching their heads.

With ace Corbin Burnes leaving in free agency, the Orioles could have used a front-end starter to replace him. They didn't spend money on one big free agent such as Max Fried, or go all-in on a trade for someone such as Garrett Crochet. Baltimore instead opted for a quantity over quality approach.

Part of that equation was signing veteran Charlie Morton, along with Tomoyuki Sugano and Kyle Gibson. It was a strategy questioned at the time and has drawn plenty of criticism because of how poorly things transpired.

Gibson made it through four starts before being designated for assignment with a 16.78 ERA. Sugano was serviceable as a backend starter with a 4.54 ERA. At points, he was their best starting pitcher, but he currently leads the American League with 30 home runs allowed.

Charlie Morton receives brutal 'Cy Yuk Award' from Jayson Stark

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Alas, it was Morton who received the unwanted distinction of the AL Cy Yuk Award winner from Jayson Stark of The Athletic (subscription required). His brutal start to the 2025 campaign played a big part in Baltimore falling out of the playoff race so early on.

Through his first five starts of the season, he had a 10.89 ERA. Opponents were teeing off against the 41-year-old, who surrendered five home runs and issued 15 walks in only 20.2 innings of work.

A move to the bullpen helped Morton get things back on track. Eventually, he returned to the rotation on May 26 and looked more like the steady workhorse he used to be.

In his next 11 starts, the Orioles went 9-2. Morton had a 3.88 ERA across 60.1 innings and figured things out with his control, with 61 strikeouts against 24 free passes. With the Orioles out of contention, this productive stretch allowed Baltimore to capitalize on his value; he was traded to the Detroit Tigers ahead of the deadline.

Charlie Morton's strong Orioles finish not sustained with Tigers

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However, Morton's tenure with the Tigers is as much of a reason as any that he got the "honor" from Stark. While his early-season struggles with Baltimore were bad, things got even worse with Detroit; it got so bad that he was designated for assignment on September 21. The aging veteran had a 7.09 ERA across nine starts, and in his final five starts with Detroit, he had a ghastly 11.65 ERA across 17 innings.

Overall, Morton has a -0.9 bWAR and 5.89 ERA across 140.2 innings. While he's been with three different teams this year (the Orioles, Tigers, and now the Atlanta Braves), this gives him the misfortune of essentially torpedoing the playoff hopes of two of those teams this year with his ineffectiveness on the mound.

This article first appeared on Baltimore Orioles on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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