Pirates starter Charlie Morton will be sidelined for the next six to eight months after undergoing surgery to repair the labrum in his right hip, Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune reports. If all goes according to plan and Morton suffers no setbacks, he could resume baseball activities in April and could rejoin the Pirates’ rotation during the first half of the 2015 regular season.
Morton missed a month between August 16 and September 16 with a sports hernia. He made only one start upon his return, tossing five shutout innings against the Red Sox, before hitting the shelf again. Morton reported feeling pain in his groin, hip, and his glutes.
Morton, in the first year of a three-year, $21 million contract extension with the Pirates, posted decent numbers over 26 starts, finishing with a 3.76 ERA and a 126/57 K/BB ratio in 157 1/3 innings.
