Battery Power’s 2025 player reviews start with the record-breaking 71st player to take the field for the Atlanta Braves this past season: Charlie Morton. It was a sometimes unexpected reunion and an emotional farewell for one of the most important pitchers of this Braves era, and a piece of connective tissue for the Braves teams of old.
The Braves visited the Detroit Tigers for their final road series of the year, with Atlanta’s season moribund and Detroit desperately trying to hold on to a playoff spot. The first game of the series was a Friday night contest and Atlanta absolutely rocked Detroit’s starting pitcher, whom they acquired in a Trade Deadline deal. That set off a chain of events that led to one of the emotional highs of the 2025 Atlanta campaign, which must take the place of actual highs since there weren’t too many of them.
After being charged for six runs while getting just four outs against Atlanta that Friday night, Detroit designated Charlie Morton for assignment. The Tigers released him two days later.
The day after his release, Morton was back with Atlanta for the third and likely final time. Morton debuted for the Braves in 2008, Tom Glavine’s final MLB season, and returned to the organization for a second time in 2021 before leaving via free agency after the 2024 campaign.
What were the expectations?
Heading into the 2025 season, Morton signed a free agent deal with the Baltimore Orioles to fill a spot in their starting rotation for a team that appeared to be a contender in the American League. Delaying his retirement for at least one more season, Morton’s departure ended a four-year return deal with Atlanta for the former third-round pick of the 2002 draft by the Braves.
The 2025 season did not go as planned for either the Orioles or Morton, as both struggled out of the gate. Baltimore suffered an early season collapse that was unexpected and brutal, but not as disappointing as the Braves’ season ultimately was. Morton was part of that early, posting a 270/159/134 (ERA-/FIP-/xFIP-) line through his first five starts as an Oriole. He then spent about three weeks as a swingman, where things picked up even if his HR/FB rate didn’t (110/128/100), and then really hit his stride in a return to a rotation role, posting a solid 96/100/99 line over 11 starts.
Before the season, Morton signed a one-year, $15 million deal with Baltimore, suggesting expectations were for him to be a mid-rotation starter or something resembling a reliable number four. Morton had posted a 5.2 fWAR mark in three seasons over the past 91 starts, indicating a high level of durability and potential for above-average performance, assuming he could get the home runs under control, which he had failed to do in two of the past three seasons. By the time the Braves got him, expectations were pretty much just a last hurray with no strings attached.
Overall, 2025 was probably Morton’s worst season in fifteen years, though at least he barely stayed above replacement while accumulating 0.3 fWAR. His last line was 144/120/105 – that xFIP- seems right in line with what he was paid, but unfortunately he ran/was cursed with too high HR/FB for the third time in four seasons. (Only two pitchers with more innings than Morton also had a higher HR/FB.)
He posted his lowest strikeout rate since his final season with the Pirates in 2015, and just his second double-digit season since his renaissance in Houston.
The course correction upon his return to the rotation in Baltimore was very welcome and showed that he could still throw at a decent caliber at times. Then he kept it going in Detroit, until he didn’t.
Back with Atlanta, the final strikeout of his season (career?) was a signature curveball. Morton then handed the ball to fellow starter Chris Sale, who had given Morton his turn in the rotation, before leaving the field to a standing ovation. With his family in the stands, it was a nice recognition of his career – all 18 seasons, with all the twists and turns and all.
A lot didn’t go right for Morton last season. No one likes being the guy with the almost highest HR/FB rate in MLB, it’s even worse when fate decides that you should also be killed by BABIP (4.62 xERA compared to 5.83 ERA) and tickled by sequencing in the same season.
As a result, Morton was charged with five earned points or more eight times, including seven points twice. He pitched so poorly for Baltimore that he lost his rotation spot after five starts. After those promising first starts with the Tigers, he regressed to the point of being released with less than a week left in the regular season.
While his curveball spin rate was still elite — in the 98th percentile per Baseball Savant — his overall effectiveness continued to decline. After dropping his arm angle after the 2021 season, his effectiveness waned, and this year his fastball has been ugly, with a run value of -14, though some of that has more to do with HR/FB and BABIP stuff than Morton himself.
Using Fangraph’s Stuff+ model, Morton’s ability to locate his pitches was a bigger issue than the quality of his stuff. Overall, his stuff is still league average – his curveball is still the best pitch – but his location is below average. That’s not a new problem for 2025, as he’s put up similar stats going back to 2023. Looking at 2021, his last undeniably great season, Morton’s fastball command was relatively accurate and the curveball largely hit the corner. Things got significantly worse starting in 2022, sometimes forcing him to rely on pitches beyond the fastball/curve combo (with mixed results); In 2025, there was actually an improvement in curveball command, but the fastball was once again a mess.
Was this the last ride for Morton? At the time of writing, he hasn’t outright said he’s hanging up his spikes, but he has already indicated he’ll be back at the start of this season. For Morton, it’s been a year-by-year evaluation for a while now, as he’s been talking about retirement for a decade.
Chances are no one would offer him anywhere near the $15 million he got last season, but his curveball is still effective, and while the results haven’t been consistent, he has taken the ball every fifth day. He pitched 142 or more innings in every non-shortened season dating back to 2017, when he was 33.
He has earned over $150 million in his career, so the money may not be the deciding factor, but if the desire is still there and if someone offers to give him $5 million in 2026, would he take it? Despite heading into what would be his age-42 season, and his unlucky 2025, he’s still projected as a 1+ WAR swingman… but it seems unlikely he’d be interested in playing for a team that wanted to roll the dice that way.
If not, and this season it was, what a fitting way for Morton to go out.
His career exemplifies the positive side of perseverance and determination, but also of changing things to reach new heights. It’s been a great career for a pitcher who was better in the last decade of his career than the first.
#Atlanta #Braves #Player #Review #Charlie #Morton