Pittsburgh Pirates manager Clint Hurdle admitted that Wednesday’s game was important and handed the ball to Charlie Morton.
Whoops.
Morton made it through two-plus innings before Hurdle emphatically took him out of the game. Mind you, it was the most emphatic removal I have ever seen. The movement up the step was decisive and so was the long, exaggerated arm point to signal the pitching change.
From the beginning, Morton looked tired and over-matched, this after having an additional day off.
By no means did the outfield do him any favors, in fact there should have been an error or two sprinkled into Morton’s cameo appearance. Ultimately, Morton did not locate his pitches and that was his undoing.
A two-run first inning could have been more, and Morton was not comfortable on the mound by any means. The Cardinals smelled fear, and they pounced. From Matt Carpenter’s triple, which received an assist from an outfield misplay to Jhonny Peralta’s third-inning walk, he was clearly not the right man for this job.
Hurdle himself has said that he takes advantage of using the September call-ups and having those players at his disposal. Now could have been the time to do that. A Vance Worley or Joe Blanton 4-5 inning spot start would have been fine, but instead a pitcher who is now 2-12 with a 5.71 ERA against the Cardinals following Wednesday night’s 11-1 loss got the ball.
If Hurdle truly meant that this game was must win and if the Pirates were 100 percent committed to winning the National League Central, then any other decision than giving Morton the ball would have been beneficial.
Even if there were any doubts, Ray Searage had to pay a visit in the first inning and there was bullpen activity already going.
Judging by the emphatic removal, the Pirates seem set to exclude both Morton and Jeff Locke from their playoff rotation and who can blame them?
Morton came off the disabled list and was a valuable asset winning in each of his first five starts. Things settled down prior to the All-Star Break however and this has carried over into the second half of the season where he is 3-6 with a 4.80 ERA. Following Wednesday night’s subpar performance, Morton allowed 33 more hits, 21 more earned runs and threw 391 more pitches in this second half of the season despite having one less start than his first half of the season.
This loss, which secures a matchup against Jake Arrieta, is squarely on the manager for not realizing what he had toeing the rubber.
Hurdle has been a great manager in his time with the Pirates, but this is his biggest mistake with the team. No overreaction here, this after all was a team that was not short of confidence. How easy is it to be confident in a must-win game however when a liability is on the mound? That is not Morton’s fault that is Hurdle.
The standard amongst Pirates fans is significantly higher than it was just a couple of years ago, and there is good reason for that. Often times, fans tend to let their passion fuel emotions, however there is no wrong here, unless of course you’re Morton. Don’t blame him for that though, blame Hurdle.
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