KISSIMMEE, Fla. – Phillies manager Pete Mackanin announced the top three in his starting pitching rotation on Wednesday afternoon (see story).
Charlie Morton will pitch the third game of the regular season, following Jeremy Hellickson and Aaron Nola.
Morton’s first regular-season start with the Phillies will come in a familiar stadium. He has made nine career starts in Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. He is 4-2 with a 3.83 ERA in those starts.
The ball flies in Cincinnati’s cozy yard, so it will be imperative that Morton keep the ball down. That’s always been a strength of his. He ranked fifth in the majors with a groundball percentage of 59.5 while pitching for Pittsburgh last season.
Morton’s pitches found a lot of ground when he started against the Houston Astros on Wednesday night. The right-hander got 11 groundball outs in 5 1/3 innings of work. He allowed four hits, two unearned runs, walked two and struck out five.
“I felt good,” Morton said. “The changeup was good to lefties, sinker was good, cutter was good. My curveball was inconsistent location-wise, but that will come. I feel like I’m in a good spot.”
Morton pushed his pitch count to 94 pitches, 58 of which were strikes. He would like to be more efficient in his final Florida start next week.
“I’d like to get deeper into the game,” he said. “Ninety-four pitches in 5 1/3 innings is not great.”
The game
The Phillies lost, 2-1. They had just two hits.
Ken Giles got the save for Houston.
Lefty Brett Oberholtzer pitched for the second time in as many days out of the bullpen and got two outs. He gave up one hit, a single to Jason Castro, but it was a routine groundball through shortstop. The Phillies were shifting on the play.
Rule 5 lefty Daniel Stumpf faced two batters and struck them both out. He will have to make the club or go on waivers. A decision on him could go right to the wire. The Phillies have to place reliever Edward Mujica on the roster by Saturday or he can opt out of his contract.
Outfield candidate David Lough made a nice running catch in right-center to take away extra bases from Jonathan Singleton in the bottom of the fifth.
Cedric Hunter, another outfield candidate, continued to swing the bat well with a hard-hit, RBI single in the first inning.
This was the Phillies’ final trip to Osceola County Stadium. The Astros will move to West Palm Beach next spring.
Herrera update
Odubel Herrera made the two-hour trip to Kissimmee. Mackanin had thought about getting Herrera an at-bat in the game, but Herrera’s left middle finger was still bothering him in batting practice so Mackanin decided against it.
Herrera has missed 10 straight games with a bone bruise on the inner aspect of the middle knuckle on the finger. Team officials believe he will be ready to start the season on time April 4, but he will need to get a bunch of at-bats during the final week of camp.
Cody Asche, recovering from an oblique strain, played four innings in a minor-league game. He has not played in Grapefruit League action and will likely open the season on the disabled list.
Up next
The Phillies travel to Disney World to play the Braves on Thursday night. Adam Morgan, locked in a battle with Vince Velasquez for the final spot in the starting rotation, will be on the mound for the Phillies. Matt Wisler is the Braves’ probable starter.