The signs were all there. After Charlie Morton suffered a season-ending injury last Saturday, Adam Morgan was pulled from his scheduled start at Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Tuesday.
The Phillies made it official on Friday, calling up the 26-year-old left-hander and optioning right-handed reliever Luis Garcia to Triple-A. Morgan will get the ball immediately for tonight’s game against former Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber and the 10-9 Cleveland Indians. As manager Pete Mackanin has done with frequency lately, Morgan will bat eighth.
“They backed him off his last start so he hasn’t pitched in a while,” Mackanin said. “He’s always been a command guy, a control guy. I look for him to do the same thing he did for us last year.”
In three starts and 17.2 innings pitched at Lehigh Valley so far this season, Morgan went 1-1 with a 3.57 ERA, 19 hits, 4 walks, and 20 strikeouts. He lost a spring training battle for the fifth spot in the rotation to Vince Velasquez, who has been a revelation in April.
Last season, Morgan made his major-league debut for the Phillies. The Alabama product started 15 games and submitted a 4.48 ERA in those starts. He joins a rotation that is much improved. Phillies starters lead the MLB with 145 strikeouts in 126.0 innings pitched.
“He pitched pretty well for us last year,” Mackanin said. “He’s pitched in the big leagues before so it’s not like an audition to see if he can pitch here. We know what he’s capable of doing.”
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