While plenty of things have gone wrong for the Baltimore Orioles through the first 21 games of the 2025 season, the offseason signing of starting pitcher Charlie Morton is standing out as one of the franchise’s biggest blunders.
With his abbreviated start on Sunday against the Cincinnati Reds that lasted just 2.1 innings, the 41-year-old Morton now holds an ERA of 10.89 after giving up seven runs on seven hits and walking four. In each of Morton’s five starts this season, the right-hander has surrendered four or more runs in each start while totaling just 17.1 innings during those outings.
Signed by the Orioles in January to a one-year, $15 million deal, Morton admitted he thought he might have thrown his last MLB pitch when he walked off the field on September 29 as a member of the Atlanta Braves. In retrospect, that gut feeling that it might have been an end to a 17-year MLB career might have been correct.
Part of the reason for Morton’s shortcomings in 2025 has been his lack of an efficient curveball. Heading into Sunday’s start against Cincinnati, opponents were slashing .435/.464/.870 (10-for-23) with two doubles, one triple, and two home runs off Morton’s curveball this season. Compare that to the first five starts of last season when opposing batters slashed just .208/.300/.245 (11-for-53) with two extra-base hits against his curveball.
Certainly, Morton wasn’t the only problem in a 24-2 shellacking by the Reds at Camden Yards on Sunday that dropped the Orioles to 9-12 on the season. Manager Brandon Hyde, who is on the hot seat in Baltimore, called the loss “embarrassing” after his pitchers gave up a combined 25 hits, including a historic performance from the bottom of the Cincinnati order.
