UTK Flash 10/26/21

Morton out for World Series

Charlie Morton is done for the World Series after a comebacker off the bat of Yuri Gurriel fractured his fibula. Morton stayed in the game after the contact, but when he came out the next inning, he reach down towards his ankle. Video from Fox showed that it was the same spot where he had been hit.

Here’s the incident:

Mark Bowman @mlbbowman

This was the Gurriel comebacker that got Morton's shin in the second inning. My guess is he had to exit because the area swelled over the past inning.

All MLB parks have an x-ray machine near the locker rooms and immediate results were that he has a fractured fibula. That matches with the area he grabbed. The fibula is the smaller of the two bones of the lower leg and can heal in six weeks, but the World Series doesn’t last that long.

Morton is unlikely to need surgery and should heal well with no long term issues. In the short term, Atlanta will need to replace him on the roster, though it is impossible to replace his value. I haven’t seen who is on Atlanta’s taxi squad for the World Series and the replacement will almost assuredly come from there. Kyle Muller comes to mind if the Braves want pure innings, or they could go with a reliever to strengthen there, especially if a bullpen game is more likely.

It’s unclear how this will affect Atlanta’s rotation for the next few games, but there should be no real change until Game 4 or 5 with this news. I will have updates here as necessary.