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Monday, February 11, 2008
No more weekends off: P’s & C’s reporting
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The great L.A. Times scribe Jim Murray once said, “Spring is the time of year when the ground thaws, trees bud, the income tax falls due — and everybody wins the pennant.”
And so it is that your correspondent, memorably dubbed as the faux “crusading everyman” by one of our angrier blog participants, has already done his taxes, an annual end-of-January ritual before heading to spring training and being immersed in a six-week world where normal life is put on hold and baseball takes precedence over all else.
We’ll be headed down Wednesday, a day before pitchers and catchers are officially required to report. Need some time to stock the fridge of the rental house and get a lay of the land in our new neighborhood, plus stop by the ballpark at Dark Star to see how many eager Braves arrived early.
First workout is Thursday, and you can bet plenty of eyes will be on Mike Hampton, whose every sprint will be scrutinized to determine if the hamstring is healthy, and every throw observed by the Braves with that crossed-fingers hope they have that he’ll be able to contribute something, anything, to the cause.
But we’ll also be curious to see newcomers Jair Jurrjens and Will Ohman, plus others such as injury-plagued relievers Phil Stockman and out-of-options Blaine Boyer, and also to see how wide-eyed prospect Charlie Morton handles everything in his first big league camp.
I’m gonna keep this blog brief, since not much new to report until we get down there and start daily blogs Wednesday. (No, nothing new to report on Teixeira or Francoeur contract extensions. I don’t expect anything on Tex for a while, and a new Francoeur contract could be kept leak-free private until it’s announced the way that Brian McCann’s was during spring training last year.)
I talked to Morton at pitching camp last week, and thought you might want to hear a little of what they had to say. If I had to bet, I’d say we’re going to see this kid in the majors at some point this summer. But that could just be me crusading again.
Charlie don’t surf: Actually I’m just assuming he doesn’t. It made for a good bold-face subhead in a note about Charlie Morton, the 24-year-old right-hander whose stock has risen dramatically since last summer. Charlie does pitch.
The hard-throwing, 6-foot-5 New Jersey native’s career made an upturn late last season after he was moved from bullpen to starting at Class AA Mississippi.
He impressed enough in the new role to get a spot in the prospect-laden Arizona Fall League, where Morton went 4-1 with a 2.57 ERA and .205 opponents’ average in six games (five starts) for the Peoria Javelinas, 20 strikeouts and eight walks in 21 innings.
He allowed five runs and two homers in one three-inning start, and only one run in the other games combined. Yes, he was quite impressive out in the desert.
Now he’s been added to the 40-man (Braves had to protect him or lose him in the Rule 5 draft) and will be in camp, trying to show the Braves that he’s worth consideration for a bullpen job and/or give them something to think about later this summer if they need a pitcher for any role.
He threw five no-hit innings in his final start, which happened to come with Bobby Cox, Frank Wren and Roger McDowell in attendance (and also me, asking the Braves officials who in the H this kid was and where he came from). Morton said he had no idea the Braves’ decision-makers were there until afterward, and agreed with me it was probably a good thing he didn’t — because he was able to relax.
“It was a good time, that last night,” he said, smiling. “I really wanted to finish strong. I didn’t find out they were there until after the game.”
At pitching camp last week, Morton didn’t try to hide his excitement and nervousness as he sat at a locker stall just down from Tim Hudson’s and John Smoltz’s nameplates, and looked across the way at Peter Moylan and other Braves relievers chatting about how they spent the offseason.
“It’s outstanding, just being in this atmosphere and working with Roger,” he said after a throwing session at Turner Field. “Things like this, and the Fall League, are helping me a lot.”
Asked about being invited to big league spring training, he said, “Yes, sir. I’m looking forward to my opportunity.”
Morton’s numbers last year at Mis’sip didn’t draw much attention — he was 4-6 with a 4.29 ERA in 41 games, including six starts. He had 67 strikeouts in 79-2/3 innings, with 37 walks and 80 hits allowed.
But look inside his splits and you understood why folks took notice late in the season. His WHIP was reduced steadily, from 1.92 in April to 1.56 in July and 1.31 in August. He went from 20 strikeouts with 17 walks in 24-2/3 innings during April-May to 27 strikeouts and 10 walks in 29 innings during July-August.
Then in the Fall League, he continued to prosper, now against better hitters.
Morton has a fastball that reaches 96-97 mph, along with three other pitches that are rated average to above-average: curveball, slider, changeup.
He’s a former third-round draft pick who fell from the top-prospect radar while going 12-18 over his first two minor league seasons in A-ball, and posting ERAs of 4.82, 5.20 and 5.40 in his first three. Last season (2007) was his fourth.
Morton said his breakthrough last season came after he went into the video room with his pitching coach and studied his mechanics closely, comparing what he did when he pitched well to what he was doing on nights he struggled. He worked on getting a better downward plane on his delivery, utilizing his height and leverage.
After that he shone in a couple more outings in the bullpen, then was moved to the rotation and really begin to prosper.
“To me it was about getting to where I could pitch consistently,” he said of his Fall League success, which wasn’t marred by bouts of wildness he’d experienced in the minors. “But then again, that was only 20-something innings. I hope to carry it over now.”
Though his fastball velocity is outstanding, and does allow him to get away with a few more mistakes than some pitchers can, Morton said he’s learned he can’t rely on simply trying to overpower hitters.
“Velocity is a good thing, definitely a plus,” he said. “But I’ve seen people throw 98 and not get people out. That was the thing with me. It was frustrating.”
OK, time to pack and choose CDs to take to spring training: It’s always an important part of the preparation, to make sure I’ve got the proper mix of music to cover it all, from early morning ease-into-the-day drives to late-night wake-your-a$$-up songs to keep from driving off the road on the Florida Turnpike (Metallica always good for that).
Picked up some good CDs this past week, including the new ones by Bob Mould, Lupe Fiasco and British Sea Power. Gonna have plenty of time to play them and a bunch of others between now and opening day (not any radio worth listening to in Central Florida, which isn’t a bad thing long as you’ve got tons of CDs on hand).
One that got lost in my pile and has been on my player the past few days: Instant Karma, the John Lennon tribute/covers album that’s a benefit to save Darfur. Love Green Day’s “Working Class Hero” and REM’s “Number 9,” and I’ve gotta say, Christina Aguilera actually does a solid job on “Mother.”
Oh, and has any REM fan got Finest Worksong, the tribute CD with other Athens bands performing REM’s songs during a 2006 show at the 40 Watt Club? I got it a few weeks ago at Schoolkids Records in Athens. Patterson Hood from Drive-By Truckers covers five songs solo, including So. Central Rain and Second Guessing.
Five Eight does a reworked version of Driver 8 called “Fiver 8,” which becomes a chronicle of their stint as REM’s opening band in California a few years ago.
And so….
”DRIVER 8” by REM
The walls are built up, stone by stone,
the fields divided one by one.
And the train conductor says_ “Take a break Driver 8,
Driver 8 take a break_We’ve been on this shift too long”
And the train conductor says_‘“Take a break Driver 8,
Driver 8 take a break. We can reach our destination,
but we’re still a ways away”
I saw a treehouse on the outskirts of the farm._
The power lines have floaters
so the airplanes won’t get snagged.
_Bells are ringing through the town again.
Children look up, all they hear is sky-blue, bells ringing
And the train conductor says, “Take a break Driver 8,
Driver 8 take a brea. We can reach our destination,
but we’re still a ways away”
Way to shield the hated heat.
Way to put myself to sleep.
Way to shield the hated heat.
Way to put myself, my children to sleep.
He piloted this song in a plane like that one.
She is selling faith on the Go Tell crusade.
Locomotive 8, Southern Crescent, hear the bells ring again.
Field to weed is stricken thin.
And the train conductor says, “Take a break Driver 8,
Driver 8 take a break. We’ve been on this shift too long.”
And the train conductor says, “Take a break Driver 8,
Driver 8 take a break. We can reach our destination,
but we’re still a ways away.”
