Chris Tillman, May 7 Start

[Frobby]

Gotta like everything today except for the 7 hits, and even that isn't bad.

65% strikes is a real good number.

To me the best number on the page is 85 pitches through 6 IP. I hope they bring him out for the 7th (but I bet they won't).

[DuffMan]

Some Matt guy that is catching Tillman is 1 for 2 with an rbi double and a walk. I wonder if this guy has any potential;)

[bOhs01]

To me the best number on the page is 85 pitches through 6 IP. I hope they bring him out for the 7th (but I bet they won't).

Jim millers in for the 7th. disappointing, i also wanted to see how tillman handled the 7th with the low pitch count. hopefully if he's in the same situation in about a month they won't hesitate to let him come out for the 7th once his arm strength is up and he has more innings under his belt.

[atom_25]

I can live with his line for the day. I think we forget that he is still just 21. I think he is gonna be real good.

[murrayfan420]

I’ve said this in a few other threads, but I think it bears repeating for a guy like Tillman. Innings limitation VERY important in keeping young arms healthy. I don’t feel like searching for the link now, but any guy who was stretched out more than 30 innings from his career high increased his chances of getting hurt significantly.

If the O’s can limit his innings now in the beginning of the year, he will be fine to come up and pitch however many innings per start he can muster in the majors.

[Lucky Jim]

I can live with his line for the day. I think we forget that he is still just 21. I think he is gonna be real good.

Tough crowd. He gave up something like four or five straight hits in the third. Otherwise, he was pretty great.

According to the broadcast, his FB was touching 94 in the 6th inning.

[Crazysilver03]

Jim millers in for the 7th. disappointing, i also wanted to see how tillman handled the 7th with the low pitch count. hopefully if he's in the same situation in about a month they won't hesitate to let him come out for the 7th once his arm strength is up and he has more innings under his belt.

Norfolk is playing a double header right? Tillman should have been back out for the complete game.

[Lucky Jim]

Norfolk is playing a double header right? Tillman should have been back out for the complete game.

Why?

If there's any chance of him pitching at the MLB level this year, they don't need to have him racking up innings now.

He could've gone 7. Easy enough to tell that.

[Crazysilver03]

Why?

If there's any chance of him pitching at the MLB level this year, they don't need to have him racking up innings now.

He could've gone 7. Easy enough to tell that.

Double headers are 7 inning games. It would have been nice to avoid using the bullpen and have Tillman finish out the game.

[amateurfan]

Norfolk is playing a double header right? Tillman should have been back out for the complete game.

I agree. Maybe something happened, but it is beneficial to learn how to pitch tired, and to pitch to the same line-up several times. It forces the pitchers to learn their craft. Maybe the team is trying to limit injuries, but those are unforeseeable. I hope 85 was the limit he was allowed to pitch today out of injury concern unless he was hurting.

[Mackus]

I agree. Maybe something happened, but it is beneficial to learn how to pitch tired, and to pitch to the same line-up several times. It forces the pitchers to learn their craft. Maybe the team is trying to limit injuries, but those are unforeseeable. I hope 85 was the limit he was allowed to pitch today out of injury concern unless he was hurting.

No, injuries are foreseeable, to a degree. Let a 21 y/o increase his workload by more than 30-40 innings a year and you'll likely see an injury.

I wouldn't have minded if Tillman came out for the 7th at all, but pulling him isn't coddling him.

I like having pitchers slowly build up their pitch counts throughout the year in the minors. You don't really have that luxury in the majors, so when you do have it, you should take advantage of it and let guys avoid over-extending their workload while still increasing their durability. Take things slow and injuries can be minimized.

[Lucky Jim]

Double headers are 7 inning games. It would have been nice to avoid using the bullpen and have Tillman finish out the game.

I agree. Maybe something happened, but it is beneficial to learn how to pitch tired, and to pitch to the same line-up several times. It forces the pitchers to learn their craft. Maybe the team is trying to limit injuries, but those are unforeseeable. I hope 85 was the limit he was allowed to pitch today out of injury concern unless he was hurting.

No, injuries are foreseeable, to a degree. Let a 21 y/o increase his workload by more than 30-40 innings a year and you'll likely see an injury.

I wouldn't have minded if Tillman came out for the 7th at all, but pulling him isn't coddling him.

I like having pitchers slowly build up their pitch counts throughout the year in the minors. You don't really have that luxury in the majors, so when you do have it, you should take advantage of it and let guys avoid over-extending their workload while still increasing their durability. Take things slow and injuries can be minimized.

On top of that, he got out of the 6th w/ a K with runners on first and third. It makes intuitive sense to say "enough" at that point.

I wouldn't have argued against him coming out, necessarily. But it's hardly disappointing that he didn't.

The real key for him is building arm strength and stamina - and he was at 94 in the 6th - while gaining efficiency.

He's pretty apparently doing both, right now (6IP in 2 of his last 3 starts to go with his strong finish last year).

Looks like this consistent improvement could lead to a late season call-up. I'd rather them not "push" him early on just for the sake of it if that's the case. He should be going deeper by mid-season, to prepare for that possibility.

[amateurfan]

No, injuries are foreseeable, to a degree. Let a 21 y/o increase his workload by more than 30-40 innings a year and you'll likely see an injury.

I wouldn't have minded if Tillman came out for the 7th at all, but pulling him isn't coddling him.

I like having pitchers slowly build up their pitch counts throughout the year in the minors. You don't really have that luxury in the majors, so when you do have it, you should take advantage of it and let guys avoid over-extending their workload while still increasing their durability. Take things slow and injuries can be minimized.

Yes, but I think we're picking hairs here a little bit. You can't foresee the exact time or type of injury. Yes, it's best to build up a minor league pitcher incrementally: that should have been accomplished by now beyond 85 (I think). I agree that it would be bad to drastically increase his IP this year, but he has to increase at some point. A SP who can only give 130IP is not very useful. Also, predicting injuries is not well understood with regards to IP, pitches per start. Cause and correlation are, as I understand, not beyond hypotheses. If I've got it wrong, sorry.

As of now, though, and last season, the SPs in the minors are not learning how to pitch, or are not experiencing, into the late innings. I don't think that's a good situation.

[murrayfan420]

Yes, but I think we're picking hairs here a little bit. You can't foresee the exact time or type of injury. Yes, it's best to build up a minor league pitcher incrementally: that should have been accomplished by now beyond 85 (I think). I agree that it would be bad to drastically increase his IP this year, but he has to increase at some point. A SP who can only give 130IP is not very useful. Also, predicting injuries is not well understood with regards to IP, pitches per start. Cause and correlation are, as I understand, not beyond hypotheses. If I've got it wrong, sorry.

As of now, though, and last season, the SPs in the minors are not learning how to pitch, or are not experiencing, into the late innings. I don't think that's a good situation.

If the Orioles are smart, they should be targeting somewhere around 160-170 innings this year. That way, he can pitch 200 innings next year without a dramatic jump.

[Frobby]

If Tillman had thrown 95-100 pitches I would not have wanted him out there for the 7th. But at 85 pitches, I would like for him to have the experience of finishing off a game. Not a big deal, but I think it would have been a good learning experience.

By the way, from what I hear, throwing 100 pitches over 7 innings is far less stressful than throwing 100 pitches in 5 innings. Tillman's opponent threw 105 pitches in 6 innings today.