BRADENTON — Opening day continues to look promising for right-hander Charlie Morton. After undergoing offseason left hip surgery to repair a labrum tear in mid-October, the 28-year-old looks to be ahead of the six months recovery time.
“Everything’s in a good place for Charlie, everything’s in a good place,” Pirates Manager Clint Hurdle said. “He’s continued to knockdown every challenge we’ve had in front of him. As far as getting up on a mound in time, he’s probably ahead of schedule from what we knocked out earlier, and now we just created a new schedule and we’ll go accordingly.”
Morton threw a bullpen session on Monday afternoon at Pirate City. And after day two of workouts, Hurdle said that Morton is in a good place medically.
“There’s been no hesitation, no step back,” Hurdle said. “He’s doing everything he needs to do. He feels good, mechanics are in a good place for where we are in February. The velocity, the arm strength, they are all showing good signs of a guy that’s in a good place medically.”
February 20, 2012 at 1:31 pm
This is very encouraging. The Charlie of old seemed to be a low self-esteem kinda guy (didn’t want to use the quitter label…to harsh). But after reestablishing his delivery, it seems that this Charlie is excited to see what he is capable of.
February 20, 2012 at 3:38 pm
I’m not expecting much from Morton. And conflicting reports about his timetable is troubling.
February 20, 2012 at 5:17 pm
Hopefully he is throwing on a downward plane.