Charlie could put Braves over the top

Were it not for the Atlanta United, all of Atlanta sports would be united in their recent legacy of persistent postseason failure. Twenty-eight to three will always live in Atlanta infamy, but losing three straight pennant-clinchers to the Los Angeles Dodgers invited 3-1 jokes to the city’s recent legacy.

Kevin Durant isn’t walking through that door, but the Braves made a potentially massive move to change their fortunes, signing Charlie Morton to a one-year, $15 million deal. Adding the former Tampa Bay Rays ace could be the breakthrough Atlanta hasn’t seen in 25 years, when the ‘95 Braves squad outlasted on the strength of their dominant and iconic frontline starting pitching.

Despite being a two-time All-Star and Cy Young finalist, Morton is underrated, and his paycheck belies his performance. Since his late-blooming breakout with the Astros in 2017, Morton is 47-18 with a 3.34 ERA. His 10.64 K/9 is 11th among starters and, according to FanGraphs’ Wins Above Replacement, Morton has pitched better than Clayton Kershaw, $118 million-man Zack Wheeler, and even his 2018 Cy-winning teammate Blake Snell.

Morton is one of the few guys capable of turning around a postseason lineup multiple times. Most starting rotations are built for 162 game marathons, and as a necessity, are stuffed with guys that need to soak up six innings every fifth day with one goal: not to embarrass their managers or force their front office to pull up a prospect before their time.

Morton is one of a few dozen guys that merit critical innings in any postseason. When he’s done so, he’s crushed a 7-3, 3.38 ERA and secured wins in Game 7 of three different playoff rounds, including four dominant relief innings in the 2017 Fall Classic.

He’s not just any guy, he’s been one of [i]the[/i] guys you want against the best teams.

The Braves now have four guys they can expect to slot in for April and October.

Max Fried built off a strong 2019 by competing for a Cy in 2020 and Ian Anderson, a 22-year-old rookie, dominated in his 10 starts (1.59 ERA) across the season and playoffs. If Mike

Soroka had not torn his Achilles, maybe he would have gotten Atlanta over the hump, but their best pitcher in 2019 (13-4 2.68 ERA) missed most of the year. He’ll be back in time for the 2021 season. Morton gives them another frontline type, and he might be fourth on the depth charts.

Next year, the Braves will have the kind of rotation that, if healthy, matches up well with the Dodgers, Padres, and, likely eclipses anyone in the National League East.

Of course, Morton got $15 million and not $150 million for two reasons: He just turned 37, so there’s no need to secure him into middle age, and he kinda sucked last year — he had a 4.74 ERA in between an IL stint for shoulder inflammation.

Ignore the second reason, at least as much as you can ignore the words “shoulder trouble” coming from an old pitcher.

Not only were pitching injuries way up in 2020 — likely the result of MLB rushing a season after months of downtime — Morton added velocity during the season, something Rays manager Kevin Cash noted right before his veteran pitcher dominated the Yankees in the ALDS. The return to form culminated in a playoff performance (3-1, 2.70 ERA, 10.35 K/9) that resembled the Morton we’ve seen since he reinvented himself as a power pitcher in Houston. On a one-year contract, there’s good reason to believe the real Morton will show up the duration of the deal.

Though the Braves still should either re-sign or replace Marcell Ozuna’s production — the outfielder and DH was 13 points away from winning the batting title and clinching the first NL Triple Crown in 83 years — they still have the reigning NL MVP Freddie Freeman and the future NL MVP Ronald Acuna. They also need to make sure that they can maintain the strong relief work they got from relievers like Shane Greene and Marc Melancon, two reliable groundball pitchers that posted sub 3 ERAs, if they depart in free agency. he team is stacked, and could easily match pound for pound with the Dodgers or anyone from the American League, with Morton delivering the final blow. The Braves won’t be a punchline if they cross the finish line.

T