I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – we’re living in the toughest of times to be a major league hitter because so many pitchers these days are throwing some of the most ridiculous pitches that we’ve ever seen.
I’m not just talking about all the pitches that hit triple digits on radar guns. Those are really cool and make me so glad that I’ll never have to step inside the box and try to make contact. Did you see what Dustin May did in his return on Saturday? He was throwing just silly stuff.
Forget about those fastballs for a second and feast your eyes upon one of the most beautiful backdoor curveballs you’ll ever see. Check out where this pitch by Atlanta’s Charlie Morton started and where it ended:
Charlie Morton, Pretty 82mph Back Door Curveball. 😍
Shohei Ohtani just needed a few extra games to warm up. Trent Grisham, Patrick Corbin and Nick Pivetta still need a bit more time.
What a wild opening week for managers with Shohei Ohtani on their roster.
The two-way Japanese star offers plenty more rewards than risk in fantasy lineups, but for those who have to designate him as a pitcher or a hitter, the first matchup of the fantasy season initially left many thinking spring training ended too soon.
When the Los Angeles Angels gave Ohtani the ball on Opening Day, it seemed like the safer play would be to keep him in fantasy lineups as a hitter. The short spring meant he probably wouldn’t throw more than four innings and the visiting Houston Astros have a lineup that can make even the game’s best pitchers look like little leaguers.
So of course Ohtani went 4.2 innings with nine strikeouts, one walk, four hits and one earned run. At the same time, he went 0-4 at the dish with one strikeout. Ouch.
A week later Ohtani was back on the mound at the Texas Rangers getting shelled for six earned runs in 3.2 innings. He struck out five while allowing two walks, six hits and a home run. And in between those outings Ohtani slashed an anti-climatic .200/.231/.280 with 0 RBI and nine strikeouts. Double ouch.
How did Ohtani respond? First he gave his bat CPR. Then he launched three home runs in two games against Texas and busted the slump as only a reigning MVP can.
Astros second baseman Jose Altuve got off to rough start to the World Series with an 0-for-5, three-strikeout night in Game 1. But Game 2 was an entirely different story for the seven-time All-Star. Altuve went 2 for 5 with a home run in Houston’s 7-2 win to tie up the series in Game 2.
But even early in the World Series, Altuve was actively paying respects to an opponent. He cut off Alex Rodriguez to get that point across.
Altuve joined the Fox Sports postgame show after Wednesday’s win, and as A-Rod was asking Altuve about the uncharacteristic strikeouts in Game 1, Altuve jumped in to remind A-Rod who the pitcher was: Charlie Morton — one of the nastiest pitchers in the game.
I know they’re former teammates, but I love when players show this kind of public respect for opposing players. Charlie Morton deserves it, ESPECIALLY after last night. pic.twitter.com/XI8zKldKQB
“Yeah, but it’s Charlie Morton … It was Charlie being Charlie. He’s so good. I’m so sad for him right now. I wish him a pretty quick recovery. But yeah, he’s the kind of guy — he’s been in as many World Series as any other player. He likes to pitch in those games. He’s really good. I don’t know if he’s a better pitcher or a better person because he’s a great guy too. I love the way he is.”
Morton exited Game 1 of the World Series after suffering a broken leg. But he managed to throw 16 pitches after sustaining the injury, retiring all three batters he faced on a broken leg. Two of those outs came via the strikeout with Altuve going down swinging just before Morton pulled himself from the game.
The two were teammates in Houston back for that notorious 2017 World Series championship, but it was still great to hear the kind of respect that Altuve showed for an opposing player.
The Astros and Braves will head to Atlanta for Friday’s Game 3 with the series tied at 1-1.
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The Braves and Astros are playing in the 117th World Series and I’m sure there have been some incredible strike outs in the first 116 Fall Classics but I have to believe none of those top what Atlanta pitcher Charlie Morton did last night in Houston.
In case you missed it, Morton took a 102 mph one-hopper by Houston’s Yuli Gurriel off his right shin in the second inning. He was able to shake it off and strike out the next hitter, Chas McCormick, and then completed a 1-2-3 inning by getting Martín Maldonado to line out to first.
The pain was too much after that last pitch to Altuve and Morton exited the game after a brief meeting on the mound with the team’s trainer.
Shortly thereafter we learned Morton fractured his right tibula and his World Series was over.
Let that sink in for a second – he struck out not one, but TWO batters with a broken right leg and he did it while throwing 95-mph heat and striking out Altuve, who is one of the best hitters in baseball.
On a broken leg!
Charlie Morton threw 10 pitches on a broken leg, sat down for a half-inning, threw six more pitches, the last two of which were a 96-mph fastball and 80-mph curveball to strike out Jose Altuve.
So, yeah, Charlie Morton threw 16 pitches pushing off the mound with a broken leg.
The Braves went on to win last night, 6-2, to take a 1-0 series lead on the road.
The loss of Morton is a big one. He went 14-6 this year, his first with the Braves, and has some of the nastiest stuff in the league.
But last night we learned he’s also one of the toughest pitchers in the league, too, because what he was able to do after taking that line drive off his leg was the stuff of legend.
Quick hits: ‘Squid Game’ creator fires back at LeBron James… Albies wins all of us a free taco… 7 hilarious early NBA stats… And more.
(Warner Bros. Entertainment via AP) ORG XMIT: NYET911
– ‘Squid Game” creator Hwang Dong-hyuk ripped “Space Jam: A New Legacy” after finding out LeBron James didn’t like the ending to Squid Game.
Things were going really well for the Atlanta Braves in Game 1 of the World Series… right up until Charlie Morton got injured.
On Tuesday, the Braves faced off against the Houston Astros in the first game of the 2021 World Series and early on, things were going great for Atlanta. Not only did Jorge Soler lead off the game with a home run, fans also got free tacos thanks to Ozzie Albies’ steal of second base in the first inning!
The Braves were flying high after the first three innings with a 5-0 lead over the Astros, then disaster struck. In the bottom of the second, starter Morton took a ground ball to his right leg and seemingly was able to shrug it off. Unfortunately, Morton had to be pulled the following inning due to injury, which we later found out was a right fibula fracture and that the Braves’ ace would miss the remainder of the World Series.
Talk about a tough break for Morton and the Braves. Here’s the play from the second inning which caused the injury to occur.
This was the Gurriel comebacker that got Morton's shin in the second inning. My guess is he had to exit because the area swelled over the past inning. pic.twitter.com/NuV4Zm50Yh
The wildest part of it all was that Morton stayed in the game for the rest of the second inning then struck out Jose Altuve on a broken leg for his final out of the game in the next inning. In total, Morton made 16 pitches between two innings on that broken leg.
What a gutsy performance from Morton and what a pitch to strike out Altuve! Baseball fans were just as shocked and awed at Morton’s ability to gut out those last few pitches and secure the out for his team.
The Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies started a crucial three-game series on Tuesday — one that will likely decide the NL East crown. And the Braves couldn’t have asked for a better start than what they got from Charlie Morton in the 2-1 win.
The Braves pitcher went seven innings of three-hit ball, holding the Phillies scoreless and striking out 10 batters in the process.
And just as he did last week when he embarrassed the Diamondbacks’ Josh Rojas with a devastating curveball, Morton was back to using his breaking ball to straight-up torment left-handed batters.
National League MVP candidate Bryce Harper was no exception — the dude almost lost his helmet trying to hit a Morton curveball.
Diamondbacks shortstop Josh Rojas is among the few players having a half-way decent season for Arizona, but you’d never know that by watching his swing at Charlie Morton’s curveball.
He nearly fell out of his cleats.
The Atlanta Braves and Arizona Diamondbacks were wrapping up their four-game series with a matinee matchup on Thursday, and the Braves starter began his afternoon by absolutely bullying Rojas.
On the seventh pitch of the at-bat, Morton unleashed a curveball inside that came awfully close to hitting Rojas on the leg. The movement on the ball was so sudden and violent that Rojas — who was probably looking fastball — couldn’t stop his swing and fell over in the process. He ended up bracing himself on the ground and staring back at Morton like, “Why me?”
Previewing the American League Cy Young Award odds, with MLB betting odds, picks and best bets
Ordinarily, I avoid taking the low-return picks when you’re taking one player against the field, but the race for the 2020 American League Cy Young Award got interesting in a hurry with preseason injuries.
As a result, the options for picking the Cy Young winner have slimmed down with three weeks to go until the season’s first pitch.
As of 5 p.m. ET Sunday, March 8, BetMGM has 12 other pitchers with odds of less than +3000:
Gerrit Cole (+265)
Justin Verlander (+600)
Chris Sale (+650)
Mike Clevinger (+1000)
Blake Snell; Charlie Morton (+1100)
Shane Bieber (+1600)
Tyler Glasnow; Carlos Carrasco (+2000)
Lucas Giolito; Zach Grienke; Corey Kluber (+2500)
American League Cy Young: Breaking down the field
The field is going to shift like a pendulum with spring training injuries to Sale and Snell. Both are expected to miss significant time, which will likely take them out of the running.
And Sunday afternoon, the Astros pulled Verlander after two innings of a scheduled four-inning start due to triceps soreness. There is no word on whether Verlander could miss any time, but it’s yet another injury to keep an eye on.
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One thing that is crystal clear is that BetMGM has a lot of faith in the Tampa Bay starting rotation. Three of the top eight plays are Rays (Snell, Morton and Glasnow). I don’t share that opinion because they’re reaching on expectation for both Snell (injured) and Glasnow (unproven). The club is formidable, but that prevents the Rays from relying on one or two guys and occasionally pushing them up in the rotation when scheduled off days or rainouts bring an ace’s start time back up.
Clevinger and Bieber are another tandem that are intriguing, but the Indians may not provide the consistent run support needed to post the numbers that make a player stand out in the Cy Young race.
Astros ace Justin Verlander is off to a shaky start this spring. (Photo Credit: Troy Taormina – USA TODAY Sports)
Verlander remains a dominant pitcher and is coming off a 21-win, 300-strikeout year and was a whopping 7.8 games above replacement. But, at age 37, the wall for starting pitchers with his mileage numbers is getting closer (as evidenced by Sunday’s news).
But, if you’re betting on this race, you have to go with Cole, despite the small return on investment. He was a good in Pittsburgh but became elite when he went to Houston before the 2018 season. In two seasons with the Astros, Cole made 65 starts and posted a record of 35-10 with 602 strikeouts in 412 2/3 innings, a 0.962 WHIP and a 2.68 ERA. He now goes to the Yankees where he can expect a lot of run support every start and get the wins to match or surpass what he did with the Astros. New York has eyes on the Yankees 24/7 and he has the chance to be the big man in the Big Apple.
THE BET: Take Cole and don’t look back. If you’re looking for a long shot to drop a few bucks on, consider Minnesota’s Jose Berrios (+4000). He is the staff ace of a team capable of winning 100 games again this year. When he is on his game, he can be dominant. Consistency is all that’s missing and he will be playing from ahead. Don’t break the bank on him, but, at +4000, you don’t have to.
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