The saga of Charlie Morton and left-handed batters has progressed apace in recent years, with the veteran hurler taking a step back in 2022 in large part due to being unable to limit the damage when lacking the platoon advantage, and then spending much of 2023 figuring out a way to work through lineups given that, well, most lineups employ left-handed batters to some extent.
Tonight, Morton made his second appearance of 2024 Spring Training, facing off against the Pirates. His outing ended up being a mixed bag: the 7/1 K/BB ratio was great, but he was also victimized for two longballs by a combination of Billy McKinney and Jack Suwinski. The first of those homers came in the top of the first. McKinney reached on a bloop fly ball into left, and then Morton threw one too many changeups, including one that rode into a way-too-hittable location, to Suwinski, resulting in a two-run homer.
Then, in the third, it was McKinney’s turn to take Morton out to right field, this time for a solo shot.
Overall, all six batters to avoid outs against Morton tonight were of the left-handed-batting persuasion. He did strike out four lefty batters anyway, and no one should be taking this outing as a sign that 2024 is going to resemble 2022 for Morton. After all, you’d much rather him use these exhibition games to figure out what won’t (and will?) work against lefties than actual games, right?
The rest of the pitching slate for the Braves was dramatic, but not necessarily damaging. Raisel Iglesias relieved Morton in the sixth, allowed a soft tapper infield single, and also issued two walks while getting a fly out and a strikeout. He had to be “rescued” by Jonathan Hughes, who escaped the jam with a flyout. Huascar Ynoa got a taste of official game action in the seventh for the first time since the 2022 season, and while he showed diminished velocity and issued a leadoff walk, he also collected two strikeouts. His inning only ended because a well-struck ball didn’t have enough to clear the warning track and landed harmlessly in a glove, but I’m sure he and the Braves feel good about it nonetheless.
Ben Bowden pitched the eighth and loaded the bases with two walks. He almost got out of it by striking out the next two batters, but one of his pitches prior to that second strikeout got away from the catcher and pushed across a fourth Pittsburgh run. Samuel Strickland (I don’t know who this is) pitched the ninth and also issued a leadoff walk, but two groundouts ended the inning.
Offensively, the Braves didn’t do anything against top prospect Jared Jones nor the other arms the Pirates deployed, at least not until the ninth. The bats finished the game with a 10/2 K/BB ratio, and despite starting a lineup of mostly-regulars, the only extra-base hit belonged to Adam Zembrowski. Matt Olson had a perfect day with a hit and a walk before being lifted, but there was really nothing else to write home about here offensively. In the ninth, there was a small rally with Ryan Casteel, Zembrowski, Sebastian Rivero, and Kade Kern combining to knock in two runs, but a foul popout by David Fletcher and a game-ending groundout by Skye Bolt meant the Braves ended in a loss.
I feel for the hitters here — Spring Training might be something like three weeks too long, but they’ve gotta keep up appearances and grind it out, even before the real grind has begun. There’ll be even more grinding tomorrow, as the Braves will engage in split squad action against the Orioles and Red Sox.
