Pittsburgh Pirates right handed pitcher Charlie Morton had successful surgery today to repair a torn labrum in his left hip. The recovery time for such a surgery is six months, which should put Morton out until about the middle of April. The injury affected Morton throughout the season, especially toward the end of the year, and the team decided that the best course of action would be to have it repaired.
The Pirates open their 2012 season with three games in four days, followed by an off-day. They won’t need five starters until April 14th, so there’s a chance that they won’t be affected by Morton’s injury. Worst case, they would need a spot starter on April 14th, and wouldn’t need a fifth starter again until April 24th. The season is too far off to be talking about spot starters, but this gives an idea of how the Pirates rotation won’t be affected much Morton’s injury, even though he probably won’t be ready for Opening Day.
Tim started Pirates Prospects in 2009 from his home in Virginia, which was 40 minutes from where Pedro Alvarez made his pro debut in Lynchburg. That year, the Lynchburg Hillcats won the Carolina League championship, and Pirates Prospects was born from Tim's reporting along the way. The site has grown over the years to include many more writers, and Tim has gone on to become a credentialed MLB reporter, producing Pirates Prospects each year, and will publish his 11th Prospect Guide this offseason. He has also served as the Pittsburgh Pirates correspondent for Baseball America since 2019. Behind the scenes, Tim is an avid music lover, and most of the money he gets paid to run this site goes to vinyl records.
How long before he starts rehabing and throwing ?
Morton’s inconsistency over the season, along with the beneficial effects rest had for him, might now have a medical explanation.
Yeah, there was never any mention to him experiencing even slight pain. Maybe that played into his inconsistency, it must have been difficult to repeat his delivery with that going on. Assuming the pain wasn’t static throughout the course of it, there would have been good days and bad days.