Chris Tillman....

[Lucky Jim]

So I wrote Stark an email:

Jayson -

Love your columns and think you do an excellent job. I've got to admit, though, I'm not sure you talked to a real scout about Tillman. Because the guy is clueless. First, he's 20 (by about a month - 4/15/88 birthdate) and not 25. Which makes a huge difference at AA. Second, in cold weather, he's been sitting at 92-94 and touching 95 all spring. With a big 12-6 curveball that he can command, and improving change-up.

Third, he just finished throwing 6 innings of 3-hit ball with 9Ks and 1 walk. How many 20 year olds at AA do that? And how many of them have the moderate-upside of Ian Kennedy?

His current line at AA: 2.42 ERA and...

37.1 Innings

22 Hits

10 Runs

10 Earned Runs

1 HR Allowed

19 BB

38 Ks

I think your scout is way off. I'm no professional, but...

Thanks again. Enjoy your work.

Spencer

And he wrote back:

Hi Spencer,

That was a typo on the age. We fixed it immediately. Sorry.

Second, I've been singing this guy's praises, so I was surprised by the scouting report. This guy is very reliable on gun readings. Never embellishes, unlike scoreboard radar guns. So I trust him on that.

Seems to me the numbers alone suggest he's better than this report. But the beauty of baseball is, we'll find out soon enough who's right. It can't be worse than running Jason Johnson out there, right?

Thanks for writing.

Jayson Stark

[DrungoHazewood]

The article has now been fixed and the 25 changed to 20.

Good. Because mistake of five years in age for a prospect is like to saying a player was hitting .200 when he was really hitting .350.

[bigbird]

The article has now been fixed and the 25 changed to 20.

I emailed Stark and let him know.

[Sports Guy]

I am sure the mistake was on the part of Stark, not the scouts.

[Lucky Jim]

I replied back.

Thanks for the quick, considerate reply, Jayson. And don't worry, you're the last of we paranoid Orioles' fans worries (we're still reeling from our big victory over the Sox playing second-fiddle to sheMANNYgans.)

I'm in no (real) position to doubt your sources. But, man, 6-5 projectible power pitcher with slight command issues (see his 4.5 BB rate) doesn't equal Ian Kennedy from any angle (especially when Kennedy didn't even reach AA until he was 22 and had played college ball). Strange. I'm going to ask around the folks I know who are thick with the O's system and see what our radar guns are saying.

Thanks for the heads-up, though. And keep up the good work.

Enjoy your weekend (it's here isn't it? Soon?)

Spencer

[TGO]

Lucky Jim posted Stark's response to his e-mail on the minors thread.

[Sports Guy]

I emailed Stark and let him know.

Look at BB...The man is connected!

[Lucky Jim]

Note the Jason Johnson dig, though. I let it go...

[Lt Melmo]

Did you read the rest of the article? The same scout says: "Tony Butler, an emperor penguin, is not capable flight as some scouts will undoubtedly say..."

Can anybody confirm whether this is true?

[howie14]

I've never seen him pitch, but I bet he's just like Jamie Moyer except he's less than half his age, throws twice as hard, is right handed, and not related to Digger Phelps in any way.

[byrdz]

The scout's opinion is different from what I've read, but we shouldn't just flat-out dismiss it.

How do you respect someones opinion that doesn't even get the age even remotely close?

[byrdz]

Note the Jason Johnson dig, though. I let it go...

Yeah, I thought that was a strange comment. Thanks for emailing him.

[Sports Guy]

How do you respect someones opinion that doesn't even get the age even remotely close?

Because it was Stark's fault, not the scouts.

[Lucky Jim]

Because it was Stark's fault, not the scouts.

Yeah. The Ian Kennedy comparison, however, was the scout's. And it's asinine.

[byrdz]

Because it was Stark's fault, not the scouts.

Yeah, that was further down in the thread, just read it. Still he's off, no?