Double A manager on Tillman

[murrayfan420]

Interesting tidbit from Roch's blog about Chris Tillman

http://masnsports.com/2008/09/talking-about-wieters-and-till.html

Double A manager Komminsk projects Bowie pitcher Chris Tillman, acquired in the Erik Bedard trade, as possibly a No. 3 starter in the majors.

'I think he's as good as advertised," Komminsk said. "His velocity is 91 to 92 mph and he has a plus-curve, a plus-changeup. He's just young. He needs to mature a little. He has good mound presence. Nothing rattles him. He has a chance to be a good one.

"I'd say that was a very good trade. Andy (MacPhail) did a pretty good job with that one."

POSSIBLY a no. 3 starter? We all talk about him that he could even be an ace someday, with a more likely ceiling of a no.2. Who is wrong?

[skornya]

In a nutshell? Probably us.

Let's face it, if you go back and look at the archives, I'd say at some point 'us' has (at some point) projected Loewen, Penn, DCab, Liz, Matt Riley, Olson, and, oh, EVERY, minor league pitcher who's been lights out at AA at the past decade as a top of the rotation guy.

And we've been wrong on most every one of them.

Brad Komminsk is evaluating this guy with his head, from a player development standpoint. We're looking at these guys with our hearts; we're looking for the savior who can snap the 11 year cycle of misery, and we're willing to anoint anyone who dominates AA as that savior.

I'll take Komminsk's opinion. Consider him a #3. And what's wrong with that? When you look at our rotation now, it's AT BEST a 2, a 6 and three guys who should likely be selling Kenmores at Sears.

No, I'll look at Tillman as a 3. If he's better, I'll take it as a pleasant, happy surprise. Instead of setting myself up for disappointment. AGAIN.

[vab]

I might lean toward the guy who's been watching him pitch all year. I'll sign for any of our prospects to turn into a #3 type of starter right now.

[Tony-OH]

His lack of velocity and some command issues at times is why most people don't see him as a number one. If he was sitting at 95-96 MPH it would be a different story, but there's nothing wrong with who he is.

He's a guy with two possibly three plus pitches and his curveball can be plus-plus at times. There's nothing wrong with being projected as a solid number three with an upside of a number two.

Tillman can pitch, and he shows a lot of poise for a 20-year old out there. As long as the Orioles take their time, he's going to be just fine.

[Frobby]

He has to curtail the walks to have better than no. 3 potential. 65 BB in 135.2 IP is too many. But he's young and has time to refine that part of his game.

[Lucky Jim]

Interesting tidbit from Roch's blog about Chris Tillman

http://masnsports.com/2008/09/talking-about-wieters-and-till.html

POSSIBLY a no. 3 starter? We all talk about him that he could even be an ace someday, with a more likely ceiling of a no.2. Who is wrong?

I've also picked up a sort-of curmudgeonly/pessimistic bent to Komminsk's comments about his players. That's not a bad thing. But something to be taken into consideration.

I mean - he admits that Tillman is "as good as advertised." So no problems there. But he also says MacPhail "did a pretty good job" in the M's trade. So, he's not the kind of guy to hand out gold stars, I'm guessing.

For further support, see the following on Wieters:

Baysox manager Brad Komminsk grudgingly said Wieters could be playing for the Orioles today.

"He could hold his own right now," Komminsk said. "Is he 100percent ready? Probably not. Especially on the defensive end of it, he's got a ways to go. But he's pretty good. He's got a ways to go in terms of game-calling, how to get hitters out. He wouldn't embarrass himself, I know that."

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/baseball/bal-sp.wieters20aug20,0,4465907.story

I don't mean this as a criticism at all. When I was studying writing in grad school, it was the curmudgeons you went to, because you knew a positive word from them was well-earned.

[Ruzious]

Roch's quotes from Komminsk don't say 3rd starter - just sayin.

Sorry to veer off, but ya gotta like his comparison of Wieters to Bob Horner offensively - since Horner was one of the all-time hitting phenoms coming out of college and into the majors. So, he's one of the best hitting prospects in decades and also considered an outstanding catcher... sheesh. Pen him in the HOF.

[Lucky Jim]

Roch's quotes from Komminsk don't say 3rd starter - just sayin.

Sorry to veer off, but ya gotta like his comparison of Wieters to Bob Horner offensively - since Horner was one of the all-time hitting phenoms coming out of college and into the majors. So, he's one of the best hitting prospects in decades and also considered an outstanding catcher... sheesh. Pen him in the HOF.

Right next to Horner.

[Tony-OH]

In a nutshell? Probably us.

Let's face it, if you go back and look at the archives, I'd say at some point 'us' has (at some point) projected Loewen, Penn, DCab, Liz, Matt Riley, Olson, and, oh, EVERY, minor league pitcher who's been lights out at AA at the past decade as a top of the rotation guy.

Well let's take a look at these guys. Loewen, Penn and Riley were curtailed by injuries. Cabrera had always been wild and although he had top of the rotation stuff when he came out of the minors, he certainly did not have top of the rotation control.

Liz is similar to Cabrera but he actually has three pitches and I'm still not ready to give up on him as a starter. He just might need more time although his delivery suggests he'll end up in the bullpen.

Olson, he's always been a back of the rotation guy at best with a much better chance of being solid left-handed "Arthur Rhodes-type" reliever. His absolute upside was a third starter so I'm not sure who believed he was a top of the rotation guy.

One of the reasons I was for the Matusz pick was becasue the system did not have a number one guy. Matusz may still not be a number guy, but he's a good bet to be solid two, but he's got the best upside of any pitcher in the system.

Arrieta (command issues), Tillman (velocity and some command issues), Spoone (injury concerns/command issues) all have top of the rotation stuff but none can be profiled as a number one because of too many underlying issues.

Number one Ace pitchers are very, very hard to find and/or develop.

However, a future rotation of Guthie, Matusz, Tillman, Arrieta, and Spoone/Patton would be pretty darn good one day. Unfortunately, the chances of all of those pitchers making it are slim.

Thankfully, we have depth in guys like Hernandez, Bergesen, Berken, Albers, Erbe, and Britton. That's a lot of pitchers with starting possibility even if none profile right now as number one pitchers.

BTW, I didn't even get to some of our new guys like Bobby Bundy, Oliver Drake and Rich Zagone and guys who had off years like Beato and Bascom.

That's a lot of depth in my opinion.

[McLovin]

BTW, I didn't even get to some of our new guys like Bobby Bundy, Oliver Drake and Rich Zagone and guys who had off years like Beato and Bascom.

.

So do you think there is reason for hope with Bascom and Beato?

[Tony-OH]

So do you think there is reason for hope with Bascom and Beato?

Sure, both have seen their velocity decrease for whatever reasons so the hope is that they will get fully healthy and their velocity will return.

Beato is a strange case because when I saw him at Aberdeen, he was sitting at 93-94 and touching 95-96. Now he's pitching in the 90-91 range from what I heard. It's hard for me to forget what he used to look like so I'll still hold out hope he can re-find it, perhaps in a relief role.

Bascom will go the Hawaiian Winter League to get in some innings so hopefully he can re-find himself as well. I'm not sure we've ever seen the same guy the scouts saw before he was drafted.

[DuffMan]

Tony I see you mentioned Erbe when talking about starting pitching depth. I remember earlier in the season in a scouting report you said that you probably see him becoming a bullpen guy? Do you still see this as his destination or does he still have a shot to become a starter in the bigs?

[El Gordo]

Interesting tidbit from Roch's blog about Chris Tillman

http://masnsports.com/2008/09/talking-about-wieters-and-till.html

POSSIBLY a no. 3 starter? We all talk about him that he could even be an ace someday, with a more likely ceiling of a no.2. Who is wrong?

We are. Komminsk has actually seen him pitch.:rolleyestf:

[Lucky Jim]

We are. Komminsk has actually seen him pitch.:rolleyestf:

If you've never seen him pitch, how can you say who's right or wrong? Those of us who project him higher are going on the word of professional scouting services like Baseball America. You can trust Komminsk over them if you like. That doesn't mean we have to. Or that we're being silly (or worth your - worthless - condescension) by looking to what other folks have said.

[Mackus]

Can somebody please explain to me how the following comments:

I think he's as good as advertised. His velocity is 91 to 92 mph and he has a plus-curve, a plus-changeup. He's just young. He needs to mature a little. He has good mound presence. Nothing rattles him. He has a chance to be a good one.

I'd say that was a very good trade. Andy did a pretty good job with that one.

Can possibly be taken as anything but high praise?