Lineup Builder:  Charlie Morton’s Worst Nightmare 

Written By Logan Nelson

Charlie Morton.  18 seasons in the game.  7 different teams.  2100+ strikeouts. 

He’s been a staple in a couple World Series’ rotations, winning two of them (2017 Astros and 2021 Braves).  And now he’s trying to get there with the Detroit Tigers.  He had a rough start to the year with Baltimore, but got dealt at the deadline to the Tigers who were in drastic need of SP help.  But since he’s been around so long, I thought it would be fun to see who’s had the most success against him in his career.  So, I took to Stathead and crunched the numbers.  Here’s the lineup of qualified hitters (25+ PAs against) that would give Charlie Morton nightmares:

  1. Brett Gardner - 28 PAs, 8 hits, 2 doubles, 3 homers, 6 RBIs - 1.088 OPS

  2. Freddie Freeman - 26 PAs, 11 hits, 4 doubles, 3 homers, 7 RBIs - 1.422 OPS

  3. Bryce Harper - 43 PAs, 13 hits, 2 doubles, 1 triple, 1 homer, 12 BBs - 1.248 OPS

  4. Kyle Schwarber - 32 PAs, 8 hits, 2 homers, 3 RBIs, 5 BBs - 1.094 OPS

  5. Jazz Chisholm Jr. - 30 PAs, 10 hits, 2 doubles, 3 homers, 11 RBIs - 1.150 OPS

  6. Allen Craig - 28 PAs, 11 hits, 2 doubles, 3 BBs - 1.077 OPS

  7. Ryan Braun - 27 PAs, 9 hits, 3 doubles, 1 homer, 6 RBIs - 1.069 OPS

  8. Jon Jay - 34 PAs, 10 hits, 3 doubles, 3 RBIs - 1.051 OPS

  9. Starlin Castro - 35 PAs, 12 hits, 3 homers, 9 RBIs - 1.018 OPS

Now I’m not entirely sure how you’d position these players around the diamond as we have a surplus of outfielders and first basemen, but it’s not about the defense here.

For Charlie’s sake, let’s reverse the data and figure out who Charlie would like to see the opposing manager roll out for their starting 9:

  1. Jonathan Lucroy - 29 PAs, 2 hits, 4 Ks - .259 OPS

  2. Nick Castellanos - 26 PAs, 3 hits, 7 Ks - .405 OPS

  3. Starling Marte - 29 PAs, 5 hits, 9 Ks - .427 OPS

  4. Daniel Descalso - 28 PAs, 2 hits, 6 Ks - .476 OPS

  5. Jesus Sanchez - 26 PAs, 3 hits, 8 Ks - .498 OPS

  6. Hunter Pence - 32 PAs, 8 hits, 2 Ks - .539 OPS

  7. Pete Alonso - 40 PAs, 7 hits, 8 Ks - .557 OPS

  8. Rafael Devers - 39 PAs, 8 hits, 9 Ks - .560 OPS

  9. J.T. Realmuto - 41 PAs, 11 hits (all singles), 8 Ks - .600 OPS

That will do it for today’s information you didn’t know you needed.

Who should I do next?

Logan Nelson
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