Last year the Pittsburgh Pirates got a big boost from Vance Worley in the second half of the season. The right-hander looked strong, showing good control, and posting numbers similar to what he put up in 2010-11, prior to his injury in 2012. The success from Worley really helped late in the season when Charlie Morton started to struggle due to his hip.
One year later, it looks like those roles could be reversed. Worley has been struggling this year. His strikeout rate and ground ball rate are both down. His walk rate has almost doubled from last year. He’s allowing hard hit contact at one of the highest rates in the majors, and soft hit contact at one of the lowest rates. He has gone from 15.8% soft hit rate to 9.4%, and 27.4% to 36.8% on hard hit contact.
In short, all of the things that made Worley such a big success last year aren’t showing up this year, for whatever reason.
Morton had a good first half last year, posting a 3.32 ERA in 119.1 innings. Things fell apart in the second half, with a 4.97 ERA in 38 innings, before he was shut down for the season with his hip injury.
The Pirates got Morton back from Tommy John surgery in 2013, and he was fantastic down the stretch. He carried that over to the 2014 season before his latest injury. After the injury led to his mechanics being derailed in Spring Training, he worked on getting back to what was working in 2013.
So far in all of his rehab work, the results have been encouraging. I don’t want to say that Morton is completely back to his 2013 self, but he’s much closer to that than where he was in Spring Training this year. He made a start tonight with Indianapolis, on the same day that Worley made a start for Pittsburgh. That might not be a coincidence.
The Pirates could opt for one more rehab start from Morton, but it wouldn’t make much sense. Worley isn’t looking anything at all like the successful pitcher he was in 2014, and Morton is looking similar to the pitcher that had so much success two years ago, and for the first half of last year. This is an upgrade the Pirates need, and they need it sooner rather than later.
**Charlie Morton Strong in Rehab Appearance. Live report from Ryan Palencer.
**Prospect Watch: Morton Starts For Indianapolis, Five Hits For Austin Meadows
**Video and Analysis From Jameson Taillon’s Rehab Start. My live report from Clearwater today, along with an analysis of Taillon’s mechanics.
**Luis Heredia to Join the Marauders Tomorrow, Featuring an Old Look. It looks like he will be starting on Saturday. I’ll have live coverage from the game, along with coverage from Jayson Aquino’s debut tomorrow night.
**Clay Holmes is Getting Close to a Full Return From Tommy John. Speaking of guys returning to Bradenton, Holmes could be there in less than a month.
**Pirates Sign Catcher From Netherlands
**Morning Report: The Last Resort Position Switch
