HHP: The Misadventures Of A Staff Ace

[Il BuonO]

Ok, going back to the game he lost which included a ball hit to RF where Travis Snider thought to break in instead of back on the play. That play was good for three runs and the ball was hit hard, but it was initially scored an error on a play that could have been made if Snider had made the proper read. It did, after all, go off Snider's glove. So, it's not like he had no shot at all. The kid in Toronto has a darn good agent. Who knew?

Now, fast forward to yesterday and our young ace is in a tough game and again in RF, but this time played by Mr. Wonderful (if you don't know who that is ask Buck), fields a ball placed nicely down the RF line. Mr. Wonderful has a very strong arm (as if you didn't know) and unleashes the most wonderful throw to 3B. Well, maybe not. That cost one run that wouldn't have scored except for all the wonderfully well played baseball by our extremely capable RF that I'm probably leaving out. The ace did give up that scorching liner to start things.

I'll jump to the bottom of the 4th now. What you say? How does that affect the game thrown by our hero? Well, come and see! In this frame, the home team leads off with a Mr. Pearce (look for my next story, Mr. Pearce goes to Baltimore) being HBP. So, with a runner on 1B our next two hitters fail and up steps Mr. Joseph. Mr. Joseph takes a mighty swing and I feel we've regained the lead for a moment until at the last the evil Mr. Kiermaier robs me of my joy and our ace of his would be lead. And so it goes.

And now onto the dreaded 5th. Our ace steps out to the mound and he's retired the last two batters by strike out. I'm feeling good about his chances and I'm proved right when our hero strikes out the first two of this inning. That's four in a row, but now who should step up? It's the opposing team's hero, the ever ready Evan Lon- I can't say it. Even to say his name sends shivers up my spine. Our hero seems a bit intimidated, too, and puts him on. No matter, there's two out and he struck out the four guys before that remember?

The next play can only be described as tragic. The opposing player grounds a ball up the middle and it's stopped on a tremendous defensive play by Flash, but not quite the superhero he might sound like, he cannot complete the play and come up with the ball and force the runner at 2B to end the inning. Where's the tragedy? Patience.

In baseball there are the crucial moments when great plays are made and then there are moments when plays aren't made that become crucial. The moment before could certainly be called one of those for our young ace, but the next would have been classified as nothing more than folly. On a soft, playable fly ball to LCF our fielders seemed to have a mental lapse. That's right, in the middle of a baseball game they looked out of place, almost as if they shouldn't be there at all. Think of it, this is our ace. Isn't it his job to mow down opposing batters without giving it even so much a second thought? Why should they have to play defense when this guy takes the ball?

The ball drops in between left and center with our defensive wizard now taking control, but the damage has been done. Our ace who was beginning to get in a groove now comes undone. The next hitter is the brilliant Mr. Souza (or Mr. Sowza depending on how many drinks you're having during the broadcast) known far and wide for his fabulous mind. Regardless, the man hits things hard. And he did. Center cut fastball by our ace and that was all folks.

Shakespearean in its scope, I'm still not over it.

[glenn__davis]

Yesterday was a very frustrating game all around. Baseball is a game of inches and the O's were on the short end of the stick just about every time.

Flaherty misses that bloop by an inch that turns into a double. The play at 2nd is also very close, again a matter of inches. Another run scores on the throwing error, again a very close play. They play at 2nd after the walk that you mentioned. If any of these plays are made Tillman gives up no runs through 5.

They scored their first 6 runs with 2 outs. 4 with 2 outs and nobody on. After Tillman had struck out the first 2.

Meanwhile, Hardy hits a ball off the wall, misses a homer by a foot or so. Joseph drills a ball to center with runners on that's caught. Lough hit the ball hard several times and made outs, including a screamer at Longoria.

I do think Tillman deserved a much better fate. He was not that bad yesterday. Certainly the HR by Souza was crushed, but a lot K's and bloop hits other than that. Honestly the O's hit Odirizzi much harder.

Just a frustrating day from a baseball standpoint. But my boys had a great time at Little League day. So it was good for me.

[Frobby]

At times, Tillman seems this close to getting his act together, but in the middle and late innings he always seems to allow the big hit at the key time instead of minimizing the damage as he has done so well the last three years.

[bobmc]

Ok, going back to the game he lost which included a ball hit to RF where Travis Snider thought to break in instead of back on the play. That play was good for three runs and the ball was hit hard, but it was initially scored an error on a play that could have been made if Snider had made the proper read. It did, after all, go off Snider's glove. So, it's not like he had no shot at all. The kid in Toronto has a darn good agent. Who knew?

Now, fast forward to yesterday and our young ace is in a tough game and again in RF, but this time played by Mr. Wonderful (if you don't know who that is ask Buck), fields a ball placed nicely down the RF line. Mr. Wonderful has a very strong arm (as if you didn't know) and unleashes the most wonderful throw to 3B. Well, maybe not. That cost one run that wouldn't have scored except for all the wonderfully well played baseball by our extremely capable RF that I'm probably leaving out. The ace did give up that scorching liner to start things.

I'll jump to the bottom of the 4th now. What you say? How does that affect the game thrown by our hero? Well, come and see! In this frame, the home team leads off with a Mr. Pearce (look for my next story, Mr. Pearce goes to Baltimore) being HBP. So, with a runner on 1B our next two hitters fail and up steps Mr. Joseph. Mr. Joseph takes a mighty swing and I feel we've regained the lead for a moment until at the last the evil Mr. Kiermaier robs me of my joy and our ace of his would be lead. And so it goes.

And now onto the dreaded 5th. Our ace steps out to the mound and he's retired the last two batters by strike out. I'm feeling good about his chances and I'm proved right when our hero strikes out the first two of this inning. That's four in a row, but now who should step up? It's the opposing team's hero, the ever ready Evan Lon- I can't say it. Even to say his name sends shivers up my spine. Our hero seems a bit intimidated, too, and puts him on. No matter, there's two out and he struck out the four guys before that remember?

The next play can only be described as tragic. The opposing player grounds a ball up the middle and it's stopped on a tremendous defensive play by Flash, but not quite the superhero he might sound like, he cannot complete the play and come up with the ball and force the runner at 2B to end the inning. Where's the tragedy? Patience.

In baseball there are the crucial moments when great plays are made and then there are moments when plays aren't made that become crucial. The moment before could certainly be called one of those for our young ace, but the next would have been classified as nothing more than folly. On a soft, playable fly ball to LCF our fielders seemed to have a mental lapse. That's right, in the middle of a baseball game they looked out of place, almost as if they shouldn't be there at all. Think of it, this is our ace. Isn't it his job to mow down opposing batters without giving it even so much a second thought? Why should they have to play defense when this guy takes the ball?

The ball drops in between left and center with our defensive wizard now taking control, but the damage has been done. Our ace who was beginning to get in a groove now comes undone. The next hitter is the brilliant Mr. Souza (or Mr. Sowza depending on how many drinks you're having during the broadcast) known far and wide for his fabulous mind. Regardless, the man hits things hard. And he did. Center cut fastball by our ace and that was all folks.

Shakespearean in its scope, I'm still not over it.

haha overreact much? I guess the move is on your brain and you are not thinking clearly..... :scratchchinhmm:

But thanks for sharing! I'll let El Gordo and Can rip your thoughts apart - have a nice day! Oh wait - you ripped Delmon so Can will support you! :rofl:

[Aristotelian]

Could have been written by Roger Angell if he was an O's fan. Nicely done sir.

Tillman got some bad breaks but also got hit hard and often and has nobody but himself to blame for all the walks. I think the game in a nutshell exposes how much Tillman is dependent on good fielding. He is a pitch to contact guy and when things don't go his way he can get himself in big trouble.

Not quite tragic though. Tillman has not been particularly heroic lately, and nobody expected him to beat Odorizzi. The outcome was not so much a Shakespearean downfall as normal Tillman.

[bpilktree]

The most amazing stat for Tilman is the three ball count. Although you don't expect a guy to be great once he gets to three balls Tilman has been god awful. They are hitting .461 on him with three balls in the count compared to last season where they hit just .240. That is bad just by itself if you look farther, when he gets to three balls they are getting on 75% of the time. Tilman is nibbling way to much in the count early and falling behind and when he gets to three balls you can almost forget about him getting the guy out.

[Phantom]

When BABIP and LOB% are working for you, it's skill. How about when they aren't?

[bobmc]

Could have been written by Roger Angell if he was an O's fan. Nicely done sir.

Tillman got some bad breaks but also got hit hard and often and has nobody but himself to blame for all the walks. I think the game in a nutshell exposes how much Tillman is dependent on good fielding. He is a pitch to contact guy and when things don't go his way he can get himself in big trouble.

Not quite tragic though. Tillman has not been particularly heroic lately, and nobody expected him to beat Odorizzi. The outcome was not so much a Shakespearean downfall as normal Tillman.

Ex- squeeze me? I may not be "Aristotelian" but I thought Chris had a decent chance to defeat SSJ and the Rays, Odorizzi notwithstanding, but whateverrrrrr! (Caffeine talking)

I expect "Wally" and Dom to work with Chris and settle him down. Expect better things in the second half.....

Book it!

[Ripken]

Our pitching was very good last year with runners on and/or in scoring position. That level of effectiveness wasn't sustainable.

[bpilktree]

Our pitching was very good last year with runners on and/or in scoring position. That level of effectiveness wasn't sustainable.

Our pitcehrs have been better with runners in scoring position then they have been when there is no one in scoring position except for Norris.

Jiminez none on .216 BAA runnes in scoring position .200 BAA

Chen none on .248 BAA runners in scoring position .128

Tilman none on .313 BAA runners in scoring postion .232 BAA

Gonzalez none on .203 BAA runners in scoring position .171 BAA

[SteveA]

Ex- squeeze me? I may not be "Aristotelian" but I thought Chris had a decent chance to defeat SSJ and the Rays, Odorizzi notwithstanding, but whateverrrrrr! (Caffeine talking)

I expect "Wally" and Dom to work with Chris and settle him down. Expect better things in the second half.....

Book it!

For the record, the Vegas books had the Rays as a small (-120) favorite yesterday. That means at bet on the Rays you would bet $120 to win $100, so to make money on the bet, the Rays would have to win 54.5% of the time. The O's were at +110, whiich means you would bet $100 on the O's and win $110 if they won. To make money on that, the O's would have to win 47.6% of the time.

So basically the expectation based on the line set by the Vegas books (which is set to get equal betting on both sides so it is in effect a reflection of the betting public's opinion) is that the Rays should win yesterday's game around 53% of the time.

[TouchemAll]

Well if Tillman does not get his pitch's DOWN in the zone they will continue to pound him.

Even his SO have been high FB's up in the zone, if he continues to play up there he's in for a LONG season.

[SteveA]

Well if Tillman does not got his pitch's DOWN in the zone they will continue to pound him.

Even his SO have been high FB's up in the zone, if he continues to play up there he's in for a LONG season.

This is the crux of the matter. And it SHOULd be something he can correct.

[Il BuonO]

Could have been written by Roger Angell if he was an O's fan. Nicely done sir.

Tillman got some bad breaks but also got hit hard and often and has nobody but himself to blame for all the walks. I think the game in a nutshell exposes how much Tillman is dependent on good fielding. He is a pitch to contact guy and when things don't go his way he can get himself in big trouble.

Not quite tragic though. Tillman has not been particularly heroic lately, and nobody expected him to beat Odorizzi. The outcome was not so much a Shakespearean downfall as normal Tillman.

Well, I'll admit to being on the Tillman bandwagon from early on with a select few who also trumpeted his arrival, namely Lucky Jim, weams and Can of corn (in no particular order). The post was hyperbole even from my standpoint, written for effect. While watching Tillman has been frustrating, I do feel like things have spiraled somewhat in addition to the subpar performances we've seen.

And I'm fine with whatever decisions Buck makes regarding Mr. Wonderful, Bob.

[bpilktree]

I am really interested to see how tilman does when Matt is healthy and catching again. I know last year Hundley caught Tilman a lot of the time and just seemed maybe he didn't like throwing to Joseph. That may or may not be true but he has struggled this season with him behind the plate. I am hoping that when Matt comes back Tilly has more confidence and starts to attack the hitters more.