What happened to Charlie Morton last night, and can he pitch in the postseason?
Atlanta Braves starter Charlie Morton left last night's game after one inning on the mound, being replaced by Michael Tonkin. Recent call-up Darius Vines and reliever Michael Tonkin ended up pitching 5.1 innings of crucial relief to make up for the loss of Morton.
Here's what we know:
What happened, anyway?
Morton first felt discomfort in his right index finger on a throw over to 1st to check on CJ Abrams with one out. He got through the rest of the inning by throwing almost entirely curveballs, throwing six consecutive to Dominic Smith (flyout) and Keibert Ruiz (groundout) to get out of the inning. Michael Tonkin began warming up in the bullpen soon after Morton came to the dugout and was on the mound to start the 2nd inning.
It's being called a sprain, for now
Initial x-rays were negative at the ballpark last night, and Morton is set for an MRI today. The initial diagnosis is a sprain - it's not a blister (like what felled Max Fried) but rather something Morton felt inside his finger, hence the initial diagnosis of a sprain.
(A sprain is, by its very definition, an issue with a ligament - not necessarily a tear, but where it's been stretched or twisted to cause pain and swelling, but not a full dislocation)
Saturday's MRI will reveal more information as to if this is in fact a ligament sprain and not a structural issue with the bones in the finger. It's a bit easier to rule out a muscle strain in this case, as there's no muscles in the fingers - all the muscles that control movement of the fingers are located in the hand and wrist.
The worst case scenario is some sort of fracture to a bone in the finger - that would undoubtedly shut him down for the rest of the postseason, as most fractures take six to eight weeks to heal enough for a pitcher to be able to effectively throw.
Will he be NLDS eligible if placed on the IL?
Here's where it gets tricky. You can only "backdate", or retroactively start the IL stint, to day after the player last played. So the earliest Morton could go on the IL is today, September 23rd, meaning the 15 day minimum expires on October 7th, the day of game one of the NLDS.
MLB.com's Mark Bowman confirmed this last night in a tweet from the ballpark last night.
So, Atlanta would be forced to make a NLDS roster without Morton and then, if he's able to pitch, replace someone on the roster with him after game one, eliminating that replaced player from both NLDS and (if Atlanta reaches) NLCS eligibility.
If he's able to play in the NLDS, it's very likely he does not get placed on the IL.
What does Atlanta do if Morton can't pitch in the NLDS?
Fried and Strider are your #1 and #2 in some order, depending on how Fried's blister responds to treatment and how soon he's able to get some side work in.
After that, Bryce Elder is ostensibly your #3 pitcher for the NLDS. Kyle Wright is scheduled to pitch one of the two games of Sunday's doubleheader, but he's still working his way back to form after missing three-plus months on the injured list. It feels increasingly unlikely that Atlanta's not going to count on him for meaningful innings in at least the first round.
AAA Gwinnett's season being over after Sunday means that the Braves have the ability to set up an "alternate site", similar to the 2020 COVID year, and have pitchers and position players getting squad games and side work in so that they're prepared, if needed. In a short NLDS, Wright may be left off the roster and worked against minor leaguers and backups to prepare him for a possible NLCS activation.
If Atlanta were to need a 4th starter, which doesn't always happen in the NLDS or even the NLCS (depending on schedule), they could always use a bullpen game with some of their stronger multi-inning relievers and/or a minor league starter like Darius Vines or Allan Winans covering multiple innings.
Remember, Atlanta was one game away from the 2020 World Series with, essentially, two starters and a lock down bullpen, pitching with no off days due to the compressed COVID schedule and the Arlington "playoff bubble" both teams were isolated in.
Should we freak out about this?
Don't freak out. It's obviously not good, but this isn't the end of the world yet. Morton said himself after the game he expected to be ready to pitch again in four to five days, but did admit that he wasn't certain if that would be the case.
If Morton has to go on the injured list because he can't pitch rather than the team trying to both keep him from pitching and get some roster flexibility for the final week of the season, then it'd be logical to worry.
But until we get the results of the MRI back, let's not worry too much just yet.
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