The starting pitching so far -- not awful, but uninspiring

[ShaneDawg85]

Tillman is going to throw a no-hitter at some point this year. You heard it here first.

I like Tillman enough, but I would have said Arrieta. Although with Jake he'd probably walk four in the process and not finish the game.

[El Gordo]

I think Earl used to say it wasn't until late May before his rotation had sorted itself out. I think I'll wait until they've gone through the rotation more than twice before I make any generalizations about them. After about 5 times through, I think the patterns will be much clearer.

[luismatos4prez]

I like Tillman enough, but I would have said Arrieta. Although with Jake he'd probably walk four in the process and not finish the game.

- Tillman actually threw a no-hitter in AAA.

- In April 2011, he was pulled 6 innings into a no-hitter vs Tampa Bay because he'd already thrown a ton of pitches.

- 7 innings of 1 hit ball vs White Sox last year

- 8 innings of 1 hit ball vs Red Sox last year

- 8.1 innings of 2 hit ball vs Seattle last year

When Tillman is on, he's unhittable. He'll walk a couple guys, but I'm telling you he's going to throw a no-hitter at some point.

[Frobby]

Tillman is going to throw a no-hitter at some point this year. You heard it here first.

I like Tillman enough, but I would have said Arrieta. Although with Jake he'd probably walk four in the process and not finish the game.

- Tillman actually threw a no-hitter in AAA.

- In April 2011, he was pulled 6 innings into a no-hitter vs Tampa Bay because he'd already thrown a ton of pitches.

- 7 innings of 1 hit ball vs White Sox last year

- 8 innings of 1 hit ball vs Red Sox last year

- 8.1 innings of 2 hit ball vs Seattle last year

When Tillman is on, he's unhittable. He'll walk a couple guys, but I'm telling you he's going to throw a no-hitter at some point.

With both of these guys, I'm more interested in seeing them pitch well consistently than whether they throw a no-hitter at some point. Both can be dominant at times, but have been very inconsistent. Tillman finally showed decent consistency in the second half of last season, but I want to see more.

[DrungoHazewood]

With both of these guys, I'm more interested in seeing them pitch well consistently than whether they throw a no-hitter at some point. Both can be dominant at times, but have been very inconsistent. Tillman finally showed decent consistency in the second half of last season, but I want to see more.

As long as they increase the number of dominant starts I don't really care about consistency. I'd rather Tillman throw a 3-hitter every fourth start with a few bad starts mixed in, rather than him just go 6-7 innings with 2-3 runs every time.

[luismatos4prez]

With both of these guys, I'm more interested in seeing them pitch well consistently than whether they throw a no-hitter at some point. Both can be dominant at times, but have been very inconsistent. Tillman finally showed decent consistency in the second half of last season, but I want to see more.

Consistency is obviously what's going to help us win games. Tony was talking about someone making a dominant start and I went off on a tangent.

[Say O!]

This is why the O's can compete, but realistic contention in the playoffs will not occur until Bundy or Gausman arrive and take up those #1 and #2 starter top of the rotation slots.

[sfosfan]

Certainly there's room to step up. And if those who need to step it don't, room will be made for someone who does so there's really not much to worry about. Don't expect Arrieta and Hunter to be pitching on the O's much longer if they keep pitching the way they are. The bigger question is who would be first in line to take their spots? It isn't too far fetched to see Bundy and Gausman being in line later in the season. But even with the pitching struggles, the staff is pitching similar to last year. 2012 team had a 3.90 era which ranked #6 in the AL. Right now it's 3.89 and ranked #7. But with the pitching struggles only coming from just a few, the outlook is still much better than last year, when 3/5 of the rotation was sent to Norfolk. By year end, I would not be surprised to see two shut down starters emerge, in much the same way Sabathia and Kuroda are shut down. It's early and I'm not too concerned. Would have been nice to rail of 9 or 10 wins in a row like Oakland, (why they do these things is a complete mystery to me), but 6-6 isn't bothering me. 60-60 will bother me more.

[Frobby]

As long as they increase the number of dominant starts I don't really care about consistency. I'd rather Tillman throw a 3-hitter every fourth start with a few bad starts mixed in, rather than him just go 6-7 innings with 2-3 runs every time.

What I meant by "consistency" was only having "a few bad starts mixed in," as you put it. The ratio of dominant starts to really bad ones has been pretty poor for those two, except for Tillman last year.

[Frobby]

This is why the O's can compete, but realistic contention in the playoffs will not occur until Bundy or Gausman arrive and take up those #1 and #2 starter top of the rotation slots.

Are you saying we can't contend to get into the playoffs, or can't contend once we're in the playoffs? As to the former, we did it last year without Bundy or Gausman. As to the latter, it really wasn't a lack of good starting pitching that caused us to lose to New York last year. So while I'd love for Bundy and/or Gausman to develop into no. 1-2 starters, I'm not sure that's the only path to winning.

[MachadOboutManny]

Our SPs are not awful

Our SPs are not inspiring either

Makes sense that this would be the case.

[Frobby]

Our SPs are not awful

Our SPs are not inspiring either

Makes sense that this would be the case.

Realistically, I'm hoping for a starter ERA around 4.00 this year. Last year it was 4.42, but much better in the second half.

[DrungoHazewood]

Consistency is obviously what's going to help us win games.

Not to be too jerky, but consistency doesn't win you anything. Being good wins ballgames. Being consistently good wins ballgames. Being totally inconsistent, but being good more than bad wins you ballgames.

You can be the most consistent team in history AND the worst team in history if you score exactly 2 runs every game, and allow exactly 7.

[wildcard]

Last year three starters showed us #1 or #2 starter stuff for half a year:

Tillman 9-3, 2.93 ERA, 15 starts

Gonzalez 9-4. 3.36 ERA (as a starter), 15 starts

Hammel 8-5, 3.47 ERA, 17 starts before the All-Star break.

Now they have to show they can do that for a full year.

[Frobby]

Last year three starters showed us #1 or #2 starter stuff for half a year:

Tillman 9-3, 2.93 ERA, 15 starts

Gonzalez 9-4. 3.36 ERA (as a starter), 15 starts

Hammel 8-5, 3.47 ERA, 17 starts before the All-Star break.

Now they have to show they can do that for a full year.

To be honest, I'm not counting on any of those three to replicate what they did last year over a full season. I'm counting on al three to be solid, along with Chen, and for the 5th starter to be much better than Hunter/Matusz/Arrieta were last year. I'm assuming we'll still have some bad starts, but hopefully we won't have 69 starts by pitchers whose ERA (as a starter) is 5.00 or higher. By the way, that was actually an improvement over 2011, when we had 86 starts by starters with ERAs of 5.00 or higher. In fact, it was our lowest total since 2006, when we had only 53 starts by starters at 5.00+. But I'm hoping we can keep improving the back part of the rotation.