Charlie

Morton

After back-to-back solid starts for Morton, this one fell apart quickly. He gave up a four-spot in the first, and while he didn’t let anyone else cross the plate, there was no way this was going to be a third-consecutive quality start. Morton now has an ugly ERA of 6.59, and can’t be trusted as a fantasy option. That includes Friday against the Angels.

Morton gave up six hits, walked one and struck out seven. The 41-year-old right-hander got off to a rough start to the season, but has now posted back-to-back quality starts. The win was just Morton’s second of the season. While he still has a 6.20 ERA on the year, his xFIP is 4.44. Morton has recored 52 strikeouts in 53 2/3 innings. He could still be a good source of strikeouts in AL-only leagues at this point in his career. Morton has a difficult matchup against the Athletics on the road next weekend.

Morton came into the day 0-7 with a 7.68 ERA, but he looked pretty good against St. Louis, especially early on with his fastball up around 95 mph. He faded to 93 mph late, but that’s understandable, given that he hadn’t pitched more than 4 1/3 innings since Apr. 15. On the other hand, the improved velocity early might be partly explained by him being on eight days’ rest, which is something he won’t typically receive. He’s expected to remain in the rotation for now and face the White Sox on Sunday. Even with the favorable matchup, he seems too risky to stream.

Morton’s return to the rotation went fine for a couple innings, but a three-run homer by Byron Buxton ruined that an inning later. He allowed four hits and a walk, and he fanned two in what was sadly once of his best performances of 2025. Morton is now a remarkable 0-7 on the season with a 9.38 ERA. It’s possible he could start again next week against the Twins, but there’s no guarantee.

There’s zero reason for fantasy managers to consider Morton as a streaming option since he holds a stratospheric 9.76 ERA, 2.21 WHIP and 26/21 K/BB ratio across 27 2/3 innings (eight appearances, five starts) this season.

It remains to be seen how long the decision lasts, but the Orioles can probably get by with a four-man rotation for the next week or two due to off days. Morton has been shifted to the bullpen after tossing 2 1/3 frames on Tuesday against the Yankees. It’ll be Dean Kremer, Tomoyuki Sugano and Kyle Gibson taking the ball for a three-game series against the Royals that gets underway on Friday.

Morton threw 80 pitches as a bulk guy on Saturday, so this was a big ask from the Orioles, especially given that he’s so completely unaccustomed to relieving. Still, he gave the team some much-needed innings after Kyle Gibson was lit up for nine runs. The outing probably rules him out as a starter Friday, though with off days Thursday and Monday, the Orioles have quite a bit of flexibility for the next several days.

It was Morton’s first relief appearance since his rookie season in 2008. Somewhat surprisingly, the Orioles had him enter mid-inning with two outs in the second. He finished that without incident, but he gave up a walk, a single and a three-run homer in the third. He worked scoreless fourth and fifth innings afterwards and then was lifted with one on and one out in the sixth. The outing actually lowered his ERA to 10.36. Morton will probably either start or again work as a bulk guy Friday against the Royals.

Keegan Akin is starting, and then Morton will work the bulk innings. The 41-year-old has been awful over his last few outings, and Baltimore will hope this gets the right-hander on the right path. If it goes well, don’t be surprised if Morton works in that capacity again next week.

It sounds like the Orioles are going to a six-man rotation for now, but we’re not dismissing the idea that veteran Charlie Morton could move to the bullpen once Kyle Gibson is ready to make his season debut. Young allowed three runs over four innings last weekend against the sizzling-hot Reds in his major-league debut. He’s posted some impressive numbers this season at Triple-A Norfolk, which should put him on fantasy managers’ radar screens moving forward.