Charlie Morton pitches with the sense his stellar run could end at any moment.

“Success and failure,” he said, pausing to collect his thoughts, “they go hand in hand. At least they have in my career.”

After winning Game 7 of the World Series last October, Morton boasts a 2.15 ERA and a 4-0 record in seven starts, with his next scheduled for Saturday against the Rangers.

At 34 years old, the Astros’ No. 5 starter is dominating like an ace. His ERA ranks just outside the top 10 and his strikeout total just outside the top 20. His 98 mph sinker is lifting his average velocity to a career high. His curveball is suppressing hitters to a .125 batting average.

The team’s social media accounts are promoting a new nickname, “CFM,” a more appropriate acronym for Charlie Effin’ Morton.

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He never has felt so strong on the mound, but the rush of praise and thrust of fame has given him a skin-crawling sensation.

“It does become about me as an individual, and that’s something that I’ve never wanted,” he said. “When people started talking about me standing out, that part bothers me.

“Because it involves people that don’t know who you are. They think now they know who you are, that they know what you are. They have no idea who you are. They have no clue. Because they just — I’ve been playing ball 16 years, and there are literally people that haven’t even heard of me now have an opinion of me.”

A stringy 6-5 righthander, he gets fidgety when complimented. He works through tics. He darts his eyes. Scrunches his brow. Purses his lips. Wrings his hands. Pulls his fingertips. He smirks to set up a cynical remark.

Contemplative nature

He can seem peculiar or appear brooding. Really he is preparing a thoughtful, often self-critical answer, with self-effacing humor and wisdom.

He has contemplated the many injuries and sudden disappointments of his 11 seasons, the majority of which ended with a 4-plus ERA and fewer than 120 innings pitched. It matters little to him the public evaluations of him are positive because they are results-oriented.

“One hundred percent,” he said. “It’s not objective. When I talk about things, I really don’t like being emotional, especially when talking about something that I’ve been trying to do for a long time.”

Morton needed six years to reach the majors and nine to complete a full season. He required surgeries to repair his right hip twice, a torn right elbow ligament and shredded hamstring. It was only a year ago that Morton spent 40 days on the disabled list for a strained lat muscle, an injury he never had experienced.

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“It wouldn’t surprise me in the least, ” he said, but stopped himself from forecasting a bleak disruption to this season. “I’m not even going to say it.”

Morton brings up failure, not that it is an anchor that drags down his success, but it is the scar he sees in his reflection.

“He would take nothing back,” said Astros starter Gerrit Cole, a friend of Morton’s since their three years together on the Pirates. “He’s always done his job to the best of his ability, gone out there and taken the ball whether he’s felt good or not. That’s probably what he means.

“He had to go through what he went through to be in this position that he’s in now.”

In 2011, Morton enjoyed his first successful stretch. He pitched two complete games and was 6-2 with a 2.52 ERA by June. Then the league adjusted. Morton confronted the challenge with a change that revolutionized his pitches. He dropped his arm slot and learned to get outs differently, more effectively. He amassed a streak of 22 scoreless innings in August.

Then his hip acted up and a season-ending surgery cut short his growth.

Morton felt healthy in 2015, but he described it as his most “frustrating” season for the way he crumbled. He gave up 16 runs in 101/3 innings during the Pirates’ playoff hunt.

Cole witnessed his friend’s meltdown. He pitched seven strong innings to win the first game of a doubleheader Sept. 30. Morton started the second. He lasted two innings and was booed. It would be the last time he pitched for Pittsburgh.

Morton used to feel tortured watching starts like those on film. Now he is more analytical in his assessments, be it a good or bad performance.

“I never give myself a ton of credit for pitching well, but I do know that I was probably more subject to emotional and mental swings about how I felt about my outings,” Morton said.

Realistic about career

He usually steers his points toward a dark sense of humor, another way to deflect credit. He does not mind being a buzz kill. During a midgame interview with Pittsburgh broadcasters, Morton swatted a compliment about earning his first win, did not flinch as teammate Edinson Volquez pelted him with several handfuls of sunflower seeds, and then delivered this gem: “I mean, I was 0-6, not 1-6. Not that much of an improvement.”

His latest run is less refutable. Since July 5 last year, including the postseason, Morton has a 2.98 ERA. Take away his worst start — Game 3 of the American League Championship Series against the Yankees — and his ERA is 2.60.

“It’s a nice story,” Cole said. “He’s worked really hard over the years and to see it all come together — he’s definitely not somebody that’s chasing the spotlight. He’s always been trying to perfect his craft and, with all the challenges that were thrown at him early in his career physically and to endure that and to come out of the back end of that in a spot to do what he’s been doing, I'm sure it feels rewarding to him”

He waters down his ability in loquacious postgame interviews.

“He’s such a pro,” Cole said, “He goes into his mode and tries to give you a really great answer. Sometimes it’s just as simple as, ‘I blew it right by the guy.’ ”

While Morton spoke after a recent start, Cole and Justin Verlander, who sat nearby, impersonated Morton.

“Yeah, I was just nasty today,” Verlander mimicked with an exaggerated matter-of-fact drone.

“I thought that,” Cole said, holding a long pause, as Morton does, “when it was coming out of my hand … he had no chance. Sometimes I didn’t know what pitch to throw because I knew it would all work.”

Verlander put a nasally exclamation point to it: “CFM!”

“Slow heartbeat, dry sense of humor, 98 miles per hour,” manager A.J. Hinch said of Morton. “No, those are three characteristics I’ve not found in my career. He’s a unique personality. He’s maintained his humility through injuries, and a spike in performance, getting the 27th out of the World Series. And he’s just one of the guys.”

That is all Morton wanted.

“Maybe in this stage of my career,” Morton said, “maybe give guys that are older, or they've gone through failures or injuries, give them something to look at, like, ‘Maybe it's not over just because people are saying it's over, or I'm bad because people say I'm bad.’ ”

He said he appreciates being seen as an example that way.

“What I get out of it now is that I know I'm contributing,” he said, with a laugh, realizing that made him sound lamer than the beloved teammate and sharp pitcher he is. “That's a good feeling.”

hunter.atkins@chron.com

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