NL DIVISION SERIES: PHILLIES VS BRAVES

October 14, 2022

Charlie Morton

Citizen's Bank Park

Atlanta Braves

Pregame 3 Press Conference

Q. When did they say you weren't going to start today?

CHARLIE MORTON: They told me today. Snit called this morning. This whole time they basically just have been saying be ready for Game 3 or 4.

Q. You were obviously in Philly here for part of the season and pitching really well before that injury. I'm wondering if you've ever kind of reflected on what could have been that season because that's kind of where your career started to take a turn, isn't it?

CHARLIE MORTON: Yeah, in a lot of ways. Kranny and Bob McClure were both here as pitching coaches. Bob was technically the head pitching coach. I had a start in Cincinnati as my first start of the year. The first three innings I went out. It was great. Everything was going phenomenal. It felt good. The ball's coming out really well.

Then I think they got to me in the fourth or fifth. And Pete pulled me and they came in. And Bob and Kranny came in, pulled me into the office the next day -- I think we were in New York playing the Mets -- and they showed me the stats against my curveball.

It was, like, hitters were like one-something against it, but I was only throwing it, like, 10 percent of the time. They said you need to throw this more.

I tried to. And I did, Chooch and I worked together a few times. I was mixing the cutter and the four-seamer and two-seamer, but really trying to focus on the curveball. I started striking more people out.

Unfortunately I got hurt in my fourth start. That trend continued when I went to Houston and more so when I went to Tampa.

I would say that was kind of the beginning of me becoming more of a curveball if not a curveball pitcher.

So I regret that they traded for me. I got hurt in my fourth start. And I liked the group that was here. I liked the starters that I was with. I liked the clubhouse. I liked my teammates. It was kind of a cool place to be.

And I really felt bad about that because I think it would have been nice for me, as a little bit of an older guy at the time, and trying to figure out where I was in that role because I never had been in that role before. And it ended too quick.

Q. What did you learn from your previous starts against the Phillies this year that you think you could take into tomorrow?

CHARLIE MORTON: They seemed to have kind of fluctuated in their approaches. And we saw a little bit of that at the end of the year, a lot of trying to put the ball in play, go the other way.

Like the game you saw against Max, they weren't getting too greedy. They were staying with an approach, trying to go the other way, kind of like what you saw from the Mets at the beginning of the year.

So I've looked at the video. I've looked at the numbers and we're working on a game plan trying to get something together.

I think that's kind of a tough approach that the team has, to pitch against, because they're really seeming to stay inside themselves and just pass the baton. We'll talk about it. We'll talk about the game plan and go from there.

Q. You said you found out this morning. So you were preparing last night that you would start tonight. Now you're preparing tonight that you're starting tomorrow. Does your preparation change at all knowing you'll potentially start in back-to-back days?

CHARLIE MORTON: I threw a pen based on the possibility of throwing today. I looked at the scouting stuff preceding that several days ago, starting too, and just with the anticipation of throwing today or tomorrow, the schedule right now, the last time I threw, I didn't remember what day that was. But it's the postseason. You've just got to be ready to throw when they call on you.

Q. Coming off an oblique injury and the lay-off, what kind of challenges does Spencer face out there?

CHARLIE MORTON: I think for him it will be making sure that that comfort's there, that there's nothing bothering him, because really if he feels halfway good and he's able to get in the zone -- and I mean you'd like to see him be able to hit spots and make great pitches, but I think his heater affords him a little leeway.

If that heater is there, the Phillies will have a tough time, even if the location isn't great, knock on wood.

For him, my hope is that him being able to start and knowing that he's starting, he can map out his day, his schedule, get ready, stay hot. And hopefully he feels good because there are implications past today hopefully for him, where if he's throwing Game 7 of the World Series, he's got an oblique, he's just going to go as far as he can. But this is still a Division Series and you hope that he comes out of this as good as he went in.

Q. What do you think some of the challenges are for Spencer emotionally? I know he's always kind of lived up to the big moments, but for you can you describe what that first postseason start was like for you?

CHARLIE MORTON: I don't really think that that feeling goes away. You kind of learn how to navigate a little bit better, maybe mentally, emotionally. But there's really nothing you can do because it doesn't matter the amount of prep or self-talk or whatever you've got, it is what it is. It's a big moment, especially if you've never done it before.

It's just like anything else that means a lot to you and other people that you're going through, it is what it is. And he's going to have to do it. He'll have to go out there do it himself.

But he's as squared away as a young pitcher I've ever seen. I'm looking forward to watching him and him having that opportunity.

Q. Spoke to Snit yesterday just about your season and not getting the spring training that you wanted. How did you think that affected you early on in the season and just kind of where you feel like your arm's at now?

CHARLIE MORTON: I don't know if it was necessarily the spring training as it was just being in that boot until late December, off the broken leg. I think that kind of put me in a spot where I wasn't able to get in, get my prep in, my normal offseason workout in. I was probably about a month, month and a half behind coming into spring training.

Surprisingly, the first game I threw in spring in an exhibition game I was like 94, 97. It was kind of like, oh, everything's great. But I think the challenge was getting my legs under me and having that stamina, the endurance in my arm, in my body. And then that buildup. I think that was a challenge.

I don't necessarily think it was the spring training. I mean, if I had to do it all over again, I wish I would have never broken my leg. (Laughter).

Q. Another one on finding out when you were going to pitch. Is it less than ideal for a pitcher to find out the day of? And would you ever, like, tell someone, hey, if you want me at my best I need to know when I'm going to pitch?

CHARLIE MORTON: I'm not making assumptions. I guess I am making assumptions. But I'm assuming that whatever conversations they had with Spencer were as honest and truthful as possible and done in a timely fashion.

I don't really know other than that what happened, what was said. But I know that he was dealing with an injury and there was also a dynamic of how the series was going.

So it wasn't just one factor that would lead them to make a decision like that. I think there were probably multiple factors and probably the most being Spencer's health and making sure that he had the time to be ready.

But I think in the capacity that he's going to throw, I mean, I don't think anyone is expecting him to go six, seven innings today.

And I think it's kind of like, hey, you give us what you got. Make sure that you come out of this on the right side.

And Spencer's style of pitching too. I don't think that he necessarily needs to be super sharp. I don't think he needs to be -- he doesn't necessarily need to be on top of his game in all facets of his game. I think his heater plays that well. His off-speed plays that well off his heater. As long as he's in the zone with that heater, I think they're going to have a tough time.

Q. You said that Spencer is about as squared away as any young pitcher you've ever seen. What are the specific things he does that you've seen that separates him at other guys that young at that age?

CHARLIE MORTON: There's not a lot of searching. Granted, I don't know how many career starts he's made or how many career innings he has, but so far he's just seemed to be in a routine. He's in a routine in the weight room. He's in a routine between starts, with his diet.

All of his prep is very consistent. So at a young -- when you see young players -- I've been around some young starters -- a lot of the times it's very volatile. There's, like, I'm going to try this new diet. I'm going to try this new workout routine. I'm going to try this new throwing program.

And Spence has been very consistent. Like I said, this is his first year in the big leagues. There's room for him to do whatever. But all I know is that he's pretty steadfast for a young guy.

I'm sure over time he's going to adapt and change, but the mentality, the day-to-day routine is very consistent. It's pretty atypical, I would say, for a young pitcher.