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Chris Tillman - O's Ace

wildcard

By wildcard
in Orioles Talk

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stomperspc Major Leaguer Cup of Coffee

stomperspc

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You can label Tillman whatever you want but the bottom line is that he has been very dependable this season. He has made 16 starts and allowed three runs or fewer in 13 of them. For whatever it is worth, only two of those starts have been less than six innings (both were 5 inning, 3 run outings). In his last 13 starts, he has only had one such outing.

He is giving the team a chance to win and keeping the offense within striking distance nearly every time out. It would be nice if he could do that while lasting a bit longer but if he did, I do think we would be talking about him on the upper echelon of AL pitcher this season. So I am not going to complain about performance that is a level below that.

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Saintbird All-Star

Saintbird

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He's clearly our best SP.

Once Chen comes back we'll have ourselves a nice little top 4 in Tillman, Chen, Gonzalez, and Hammel.

And 5 with Nolasco? THAT'S a rotation that could go somewhere. Is it top class? No. But the offense that this team has doesn't require a lights-out rotation. If the bats stay hot then I have faith that the rotation + Chen + one other, can get us the division title.

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Tony-OH Hangout Grand Counsel

Tony-OH

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The best thing about Tillman is that he's learned to pitch. Even when he doesn't have his best fastball, he's finding ways to guy through those innings/games by pitching. His curveball and change up have become solid average pitches with his curveball even being a plus pitch at times. He can command both of them most of the time and that's why he's having success. His fastball is fringe average in the 90-91 range sometimes, but he's keeping it on the corners and is not making many mistakes in the middle of the plate.

Tillman may not have "ace" stuff, but he's been our most consistent pitcher and keeps finding ways to keep his team in the game every outing. I'd take five of them and we'd be just fine with our offense.

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NickM21 Major Leaguer

NickM21

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The best thing about Tillman is that he's learned to pitch. Even when he doesn't have his best fastball, he's finding ways to guy through those innings/games by pitching. His curveball and change up have become solid average pitches with his curveball even being a plus pitch at times. He can command both of them most of the time and that's why he's having success. His fastball is fringe average in the 90-91 range sometimes, but he's keeping it on the corners and is not making many mistakes in the middle of the plate.

Tillman may not have "ace" stuff, but he's been our most consistent pitcher and keeps finding ways to keep his team in the game every outing. I'd take five of them and we'd be just fine with our offense.

What ever happend to the 95MPH heater he had when he came up from the minors last year and blew away the Mariners? He's getting it done without it, but man would he be nasty if he had that back.

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stomperspc Major Leaguer Cup of Coffee

stomperspc

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And 5 with Nolasco? THAT'S a rotation that could go somewhere. Is it top class? No. But the offense that this team has doesn't require a lights-out rotation. If the bats stay hot then I have faith that the rotation + Chen + one other, can get us the division title.

Yea, that's the key. With an offense that is averaging 4.9 runs a game, this team can win a bunch of games with a 5-man rotation that limits the blowouts, even if they are essentially a 4.00-ish ERA rotation in total.

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wildcard Hangout Grand Counsel

wildcard

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A lot of fans and I think even Buck are not that happy with Britton only going a little over 5 innings in each of his two starts in June. Not me. I know in April I was not sure the O's would get anything out of Britton. Now he has held the other teams to 2 or 3 runs and shown good stuff while doing it. I think he plays a big role in the 2nd half whether he is a starter or a long reliever. That is a big plus to my way of think.

It appears that Buck will give McFarland the start on Friday. If he does well then Britton and McFarland may be competing for the 5th starter job. Wouldn't that be good for the team?

With Chen probably going to join the starting staff next week on the 5th or 6th of July the starting staff is gearing up for a better 2nd half barring injuries.

Not in the rotation anymore are:

Arrieta 7.23 ERA in 5 starts

Gausman 7.66 ERA in 5 starts

Garcia 5.88 ERA in 10 starts

S Johnson 13.50 ERA in 1 start

Stinson 7.94 ERA in 1 start

Jurrjens 7.20 ERA in 1 start

When the O's did not re-sign Saunders they committed themselves to finding a fifth starter. Chen's injury extended that to a fourth starter needed. Its hasn't been pretty, but hopefully that part of the season is over and we can watch a solid rotation for the rest of the season.

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Il BuonO Hangout Grand Counsel

Il BuonO

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10-2, 3.68 ERA. Remember we only had one pitcher with double digit wins last year -- Chen, with 12. I wonder if Tillman will be the first Oriole to win 16+ since Mussina?

I hope so. I think he can be better and I think he knows he can be better. I like watching him compete even when he his struggling early with command you can see his wheels spinning. I get the complete opposite feeling watching him as I do with Arrieta. Like he'll pitch his way out of it eventually.

That's a testament to just how far he has come.

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barnanimal Major Leaguer Cup of Coffee

barnanimal

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10-2, 3.68 ERA. Remember we only had one pitcher with double digit wins last year -- Chen, with 12. I wonder if Tillman will be the first Oriole to win 16+ since Mussina?

With this lineup and if he can give us 6 strong innings every 5th game why not 20!

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Lester Freamon Major Leaguer

Lester Freamon

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Frustrating that he wasn't allowed to pitch 7 tonight.

I know what you mean but the bullpen was well rested. O'Day, Hunter and Johnson are going to be tough to beat most of the time. Matusz is great at stranding runners and Patton is looking more like last year's Patton, which is GREAT news.

Of course on this night O'Day and Johnson made things kinda interesting...

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Frobby Hangout Grand Counsel

Frobby

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Bump

All-Star Chris is on pace to win 20. He seems to be getting stronger as the year goes on.

Only Morris, Scherzer and Colon have more at 14 wins and we know Colon has help.

But is Tillman the best pitcher on the team? Truth is, I'm not sure he is. He's been very good, and for whatever reason, he has gotten the run support. I still might put him third among our top three, though they're all pretty close IMO.

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