Charlie Morton allowed eight runs in his first start of the season. He allowed six more runs in his second start. On the surface, it may have looked like more of the same, but Morton showed some quantifiable improvement in his second appearance. Let’s start with the balls in play for each start.
Ground Balls | Fly Balls | Line Drives | Total Balls in Play | |
4/9/2010 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 14 |
4/14/2010 | 10 | 7 | 4 | 21 |
Total | 12 | 11 | 12 | 35 |

There are other numbers that indicate Morton is on the right track. He is striking out nearly a batter an inning to go with only one walk on the season. His fastball, on average, has been about 2 MPH faster than it was in 2009. He is generating swings-and-misses at an above average rate. He is stranding only 37% of base runners, which is well below both the league average (71%) and his career rate (65%). Opponents are bunching hits against him, another trend that suggests bad luck.
There are plenty of reasons to expect Morton to improve as we get deeper into the season, simply based on the law of averages. Of course, it would also help if he stopped leaving balls up in the zone to guys like Eli Whiteside.