Phillies Charlie Morton and Jeremy Hellickson Start Slow
By Matt Veasey
The Philadelphia Phillies have a couple of new faces in their projected 2016 starting pitching rotation.
One of those new arms is 32-year old right-hander Charlie Morton, a veteran of eight big league seasons, the last seven of those with the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Phils obtained Morton in a trade with the Bucs back on December 15th in exchange for prospect pitcher David Whitehead.
Morton was originally the 3rd round selection of the Atlanta Braves in the 2002 MLB Amateur Draft, and was dealt to Pittsburgh in June of 2009 as part of a three player package that sent Nate McLouth down south.
The Phillies are counting on Morton and Jeremy Hellickson, who will turn 29-years old in the first week of the regular season, to fill the veteran roles that Aaron Harang and Jerome Williams supplied a year ago, eating up innings and starts while the club’s stable of young arms continues to develop.
To this point in the Grapefruit League the mound work has gone to many of those youngsters, highlighted by the battle for the 5th starter role among Brett Oberholtzer, Adam Morgan, and Vincent Velasquez. There was also plenty of work for top pitching prospects such as Jake Thompson and Mark Appel, and organizational depth arms such as David Buchanan and Severino Gonzalez.
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But now it’s time to get more serious with the veterans, giving them more innings and building them up for the start of the regular season, which begins in just two and a half weeks.
“…for spring training, where I’m at, I feel like I’m in a good spot.” ~ Morton
In Friday’s slugfest with his former Pirates mates, Morton received just his second start of the spring. He was not good, rocked for five earned runs over just four innings, allowing four hits and walking three Bucs’ batters. Three of the hits went for extra bases, including a pair of home runs, and he struck out three.
It was Morton’s first official game action in almost two weeks, since he made his Phillies debut in tossing 2.1 innings on Sunday, March 6th against the New York Yankees at Bright House Field. In that outing, Morton allowed one earned run and one hit, striking out two and walking one batter.
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Both Morton and Hellickson had been sidelined by a flu bug that tore through the Phillies clubhouse, one that has affected a number of other teams down in Florida as well. Both pitchers emerged from the infirmary last Sunday to pitch in a minor league intrasquad game. Morton went four shutout innings in that one, allowing two hits and a walk and striking out four.
“I’m really happy with what I’m seeing in terms of swings on my sinker because it doesn’t seem like there are a lot of really great swings,” Morton said to CSNPhilly’s Jim Salisbury after last Sunday’s work. “It’s early. It’s March. Hitters haven’t gotten their timing yet. But for spring training, where I’m at, I feel like I’m in a good spot.”
Hellickson also pitched four shutout innings in that minor league game. He allowed no hits while walking one batter and striking out four. The former AL Rookie of the Year and Gold Glove winner has thrown just two official innings this spring, striking out five while allowing one earned run on two hits.
Hellickson talked with Salisbury about the motivation for the two veterans this year. “Obviously we play to win,” said Hellickson. “We play to make money and support our families. So there might be a little motivation added on. But the fact that my last couple of seasons haven’t been so good is more of a motivator. Getting back to pitching like I know I can and helping this club is my priority. If I do that, free agency will take care of itself.”
Mortan and Hellickson will both begin to build up their innings and pitch counts over the next couple of weeks. With side work and with their experience levels, both should be ready for the start of the season barring any further physical setbacks. The Phillies will be counting on both to provide significant innings, at least until the trade deadline.