This Might Have Caused Charlie Morton's Turnaround With Orioles

Perhaps there was no bigger scapegoat during the Baltimore Orioles' early struggles this season than Charlie Morton.

Signed to a one-year, $15 million contract this past winter as a replacement for the departed Corbin Burnes, his tenure got off to a disastrous start with a 9.38 ERA and an 0-7 record across his nine outings that included six starts.

But Morton has quietly started turning things around.

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While his season-long ERA of 6.05 doesn't impress on paper, he has been sensational since he threw two shutout innings with no hits allowed out of the bullpen on May 10, owning an ERA of 2.45 across 29 1/3 innings pitched in seven total outings and four starts where he has struck out 39 batters.

All of a sudden, Morton looks like the guy the Orioles envisioned when they handed him that deal.

What has caused the turnaround for the 41-year-old?

Interim manager Tony Mansolino believes it has something to do with a mechanical issue that has been solved.

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"And I think there was probably something, my guess without knowing any information about it whatsoever, there's probably something mechanical that he was working through when he was struggling that they fixed," he said, per Roch Kubatko of MASN.

If that's what it is, then that is a good sign this stretch is sustainable.

Morton has high velocity back in his arsenal, and his ability to locate his fastball combined with his devastating curveball has worked wonders for him once again.

Backup catcher Maverick Handley has been impressed by what he's seen lately.

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"Man, I feel like he's really hitting his stride," he said after Friday's outing where Morton allowed no runs in five innings pitched with 10 strikeouts. "Changeup has been excellent of late, and he hit like 97 tonight on the board. That's crazy impressive. Curveball's his pitch, too. Struck a guy out and it hit him on the front foot, I think. He had everything working tonight."

Baltimore needs this to keep clicking for the long-time veteran.

He is an important part of their rotation, so if he can continue to deliver these types of outings every fifth day, then the Orioles will have a chance to win some much-needed games during the summer months.

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