X

Have feedback / suggestions? Let us know!

Fantasy Sports Fantasy Baseball

Fantasy Baseball: Is Charlie Morton Worth Adding Immediately?

By @bradberreman24

Charlie Morton Fantasy Baseball

Justin K. Aller-Getty Images

After a solid season in 2011 (10-10, 3.83 ERA, 171.2 innings), Charlie Morton underwent Tommy John surgery in 2012 and did not make his 2013 debut until June. But he pitched well in his 20 starts for the Pittsburgh Pirates, with a 3.26 ERA, 85 strikeouts and 36 walks over 116 innings.

Morton has carried that momentum into this season, with a 3.22 ERA while going at least six innings in seven of his eight starts, but poor run support and bad defense behind him has kept Morton out of the win column thus far. With fortunes that look all but certain to turnaround in terms of his win total, is now the time for fantasy baseball owners to add Morton?

Wins have become an overrated statistic in both real and fantasy baseball circles, so let’s take a closer look at Morton’s pertinent peripheral numbers. His batted ball percentages are highlighted by a very good ground ball rate (55.3 percent) and his line drive, fly ball and home run/fly ball rates are all fairly close to his career average. Errors behind him defensively have likely led to a fortunate-looking .277 BABIP and a FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching) of 4.12 seems to indicate his ERA may rise a bit going forward.

Morton is not enough of a strike out pitcher (5.5 K/9 so far this season) to cover up the randomness of batted balls and poor defense, but there’s little reason not to expect his overall peripherals to remain stable and keep his ERA and WHIP in line. It’s safe to say he’ll get in the win column at some point soon, but even without a ton of wins stable ratios give Morton value in NL-only and deep mixed leagues. Better yet, he’s widely available right now (six percent ownership in Yahoo! leagues).

Brad Berreman is a Senior Writer at Rant Sports.com. Follow him on Twitter or connect on Google +.

 

Trending Now on