Tillman

[Lucky Jim]

Thanks for the faith, LJ. I did watch.

Impressed, sure. I'd like to see if he can do it across some more starts as none of the members of the cavalry have bee consistent.

I wasn't knocking you. It was the 4th of July (and you weren't posting at the time, that I saw). Hope you enjoyed. Good game.

[Moose Milligan]

That's fair. From what you saw today, do you still think this:

One start isn't going to change my opinion of him.

I want to see how he handles the next start. I want to see how he handles the next start he has to make after getting bombed. I want to see how he handles pitching against the AL East competition. I don't really like the argument of "Yeah, but he did it against Seattle," but let's be honest...it's definitely not the best competition he'll have to face.

I'll tip my hat to him, today was impressive. However, I refuse to believe after one start that he's completely reformed.

[Lucky Jim]

One start isn't going to change my opinion of him.

I want to see how he handles the next start. I want to see how he handles the next start he has to make after getting bombed. I want to see how he handles pitching against the AL East competition. I don't really like the argument of "Yeah, but he did it against Seattle," but let's be honest...it's definitely not the best competition he'll have to face.

I'll tip my hat to him, today was impressive. However, I refuse to believe after one start that he's completely reformed.

Well, I think he's going to have ups-and-downs.

But, did you feel that his pitch quality today similar to what you've seen in the past? And if not, do you think stuff-based analytics will be helpful predicting future results?

[VeveJones007]

One start isn't going to change my opinion of him.

I want to see how he handles the next start. I want to see how he handles the next start he has to make after getting bombed. I want to see how he handles pitching against the AL East competition. I don't really like the argument of "Yeah, but he did it against Seattle," but let's be honest...it's definitely not the best competition he'll have to face.

I'll tip my hat to him, today was impressive. However, I refuse to believe after one start that he's completely reformed.

His stuff was very good. We know how he can look, but can he consistently do it? Will advanced scouts pick up any tells in his delivery?

Those are two very big questions, but we know Tillman's ceiling is very high. Let's hope he can reach it.

[mark_beckens]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/7mt5sWTKdZs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Still trying to figure out what they are trying to show.

[Pickles]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/7mt5sWTKdZs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Still trying to figure out what they are trying to show.

There superimposing one motion on top of the other to try and highlight differences. I got to be honest, the quality is kind of strange, like a hologram or something, but I didn't see anything to suggest his delivery or release was different from one pitch to the next.

[mark_beckens]

There superimposing one motion on top of the other to try and highlight differences. I got to be honest, the quality is kind of strange, like a hologram or something, but I didn't see anything to suggest his delivery or release was different from one pitch to the next.

That was what I meant, I didn't notice a difference. Figured that was the reason for it.

[Il BuonO]

I think both Jim and I said that several times. His Milb starts, including the one in the downpour, were indicative of someone who had made great strides. When Peterson and Griffin said they had him working on several thing and the results were less than stellar, we believed that it was part of what would make him a lot better. And no, I am not going to go back and quote all my posts about Tillman.

I know you guys have been and I have also been there consistently watching his progress this year and vocally calling for his promotion. I had family obligations so couldn't watch it live, but was happy to watch it with my Dad who while we both watched the replay on mlb.tv and I was describing the performance to my younger brother said he thought it was the best he thought he'd seen by any Oriole pitcher this year. (No, he didn't see Hammel throw the one hitter.) Not only that, he's an Angel fan and right now he said he would take Tillman over everybody on our staff and only second to Weaver on the Angels. Pretty high praise coming from him.

Still, as someone else noted I will not jump on board stating superlatives before he's faced tougher competition, but I don't know anyone who saw him pitch last night couldn't say that there is something different about him this year. This is not the same guy. The guy who pitched last night was a ML pitcher.

[Frobby]

Let's see if he can do it consistently. I still remain skeptical.

I wouldn't describe myself as "skeptical," but Tillman's track record of having a brilliant start followed by a dud means he still has the burden of proof despite his spectacular game yesterday.

[Tx Oriole]

Pretty disappointed that he couldn't stop the Mariners from hitting the ball to Betimit. Going forward he needs to realize that is one of the keys to getting ML hitters out.

What? Making sure no one hits a ball to Wilson? I am very happy for Tillman and the team.

[Va Beach O's fan]

As a partial season ticket plan holder for the Tides, I can honestly say I did not see that performance coming. He was in the low 90's for most all of his starts I have seen in person, occasionaly touching 94-95 but only a couple times a game.

The fastball he showed against the Mariners was all new ground, although adrenaline can only get you so far and he was still hitting 97 in the 9th. He also got his curve over consistently and threw a nice little change to really keep guys off balance.

I was honestly just as surprised by the excellent command he showed as I was by the extra velocity. Now this is a BIG if, but IF he can keep up the velocity and keep at least similiar control, it won't matter who he's pitching against quite frankly. That was dominant stuff, quite possibly the most dominant game anyone has pitched all season as far as pure "stuff" goes.

Obviously Hammel's 1 hitter was a better all around performance, but before that 9th inning, Tillman was drawing comparisons to verlander and perhaps rightly so, his stuff was THAT good. Now can he repeat it day in and day out? That's the million dollar question. But if he can bottle the repertoire he had against the M's, he'll be around in our rotation for a very long time.

What an uplifting performance, exactly what this team needed going into the break. Now if Arrieta can just figure out how to command his stuff, we might have something here!

[Moose Milligan]

Well, I think he's going to have ups-and-downs.

But, did you feel that his pitch quality today similar to what you've seen in the past? And if not, do you think stuff-based analytics will be helpful predicting future results?

I certainly did feel that his pitch quality was better.

[gallden]

What? Making sure no one hits a ball to Wilson? I am very happy for Tillman and the team.

Yeah I'm not sure he's legit until he avoids Wilson all together. When he can do that then I think he's got number two stuff.

[Dipper9]

Great job by Tillman, but this line in Brit's write up amazed me...

Baltimore, which guaranteed a winning first-half record on Tuesday -- for just the second time since 1998 -- has now won 16 series, already equaling its total from the 2011 season.

We have EQUALED last year's series wins....in half a season! Damn! Keep it up Birds!

[Going Underground]

I wouldn't describe myself as "skeptical," but Tillman's track record of having a brilliant start followed by a dud means he still has the burden of proof despite his spectacular game yesterday.

He was pitching a no no against Texas last year, The next start was awful. He went deeper in this game then any game in the minors. We shall see if this is a one game fluke against a team which is not a great hitting team or the beginning of a new Tillman. The other thing Tillman had no innings when he had to bear down and try to limit the damage. This also usually got him into trouble.