In which we learn that Charlie Morton is taking the Roy Halladay mimicry too far.
Charlie Morton, sinker-balling specialist for the Pittsburgh Pirates, made some news last year for aping the delivery of Roy Halladay. So when Halladay went on the DL, you could picture Morton doing one of those exaggerated swallows that indicated he was nervous. Maybe tugged at his collar a little bit. And then the other shoe dropped:
RHP Juan Cruz has been reinstated from the Restricted List and RHP Charlie Morton goes on DL with right elbow inflammation (retro to May 30)
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) June 1, 2012
All neat and explainable until you get to the part where Halladay hurt his shoulder/lat and Morton hurt his elbow. But we'll ignore that for now.
As Rob Neyer pointed out earlier this week, Morton hasn't been particularly effective this year, so it's possible that he's been pitching through pain for a while now. Morton, not Neyer. The Pirates also have Jeff Karstens on the DL, so they'll likely turn to Brad Lincoln for a few starts in Morton's absence.