ATLANTA (AP) The Atlanta Braves signed veteran pitcher Charlie Morton to a major league contract on Monday, a day after the right-hander was designated for assignment and released by Detroit.
Braves manager Brian Snitker did not say if the 41-year-old Morton will pitch for the Braves in the final week of the season. Snitker said Morton will be in Atlanta on Tuesday.
“I don’t know what (the plan is) until we get him here and talk through everything,” Snitker said. “We don’t really have a plan. We got him back. I don’t know what that plan would be. I talked to him Saturday afternoon before batting practice (in Detroit). It wasn’t even on the radar.”
This would be Morton’s third career stint with the Braves. He was drafted by Atlanta in the third round (95th overall) of the 2002 draft. Morton made his MLB debut with Atlanta in 2008 and from 2009 to 2020 pitched for the Pirates, Phillies, Astros and Rays, respectively, before returning to Atlanta for the 2021-24 seasons.
Morton signed a one-year, $15 million contract with the Orioles in January and was traded to the Tigers before July’s trade deadline.
Morton won a World Series title with the Astros in 2017 and the Braves in 2021.
Morton last pitched for Detroit on Friday, allowing six earned runs on five hits in 1 1/3 innings with two strikeouts and two walks in a 10-1 loss to Atlanta.
This season, Morton is 9-11 with a 5.89 ERA in 32 games, including 26 starts. Morton has a career regular-season win-loss record of 147-134 over 415 games (406 starts) and 2,266 innings. His 2,195 career strikeouts rank sixth among active MLB pitchers.
In a corresponding move, Atlanta optioned right-handed pitcher Jhancarlos Lara to Triple-A Gwinnett and designated right-hander Carson Ragsdale for assignment.
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