When Charlie Morton first joined the Detroit Tigers at the trade deadline, he appeared to be as advertised. He delivered a handful of quality performances, providing the Tigers with exactly the kind of veteran stability they were seeking in their rotation.
Then, suddenly, his performance declined sharply – and at the worst possible time, with Detroit making a final push toward an American League Central division title. Morton registered an 11.60 ERA over his last five starts, all of which were Tigers losses.
A series of shaky starts culminated in Morton's worst performance of the season for Detroit on Friday against his former team, the Atlanta Braves.