CHICAGO — Charlie Morton continues to slowly progress from offseason right hip surgery as he targets an eventual return to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Manager Clint Hurdle said Tuesday that the veteran right-hander had a promising extended spring training outing on Monday.
“Charlie threw 75-77 pitches, I think he got up and down six times,” said Hurdle. “All in all I think it was a positive outing, the reps were good (and) the volume of pitches were good.”
Next up is a scheduled outing with the Pirates’ Class A Bradenton affiliate.
“On Saturday we’re going to try to get him seven innings or 90 pitches,” Hurdle said.
But there’s no timetable for a return to the Pirates.
“We’re taking them one (appearance) at a time,” Hurdle said.
Morton, 31, worked five outings in spring training but frequently struggled and was placed on the disabled list on April 5.
Now in his seventh season, Morton debuted with Atlanta in 2008 and has spent the last six with the Pirates. He was 6-12 in 2014 with a 3.72 ERA, 126 strikeouts and 57 walks.