Christopher Tillman

[QBsILLEST1]

Alright guys, Chris has been tearing things up in AAA against competition that is much older than he is, but hes been doing that since day one. If brought up in the beginning of the year this year I would have considered him being rushed, but after seeing how well he is handling AAA, I cannot help but ask, When will he be here in Baltimore? He cut down his walk rate to under 3 a game last I checked while maintaing a similar K rate to his career norm and progressed his change up to slightly above average.

He is the only one of the Big 3 not to be promoted yet, and I think it is coming. Im beginning to think that we may be at the point where he can be called up any day now, but am I jumping the gun? He could work on going longer in ball games, but thats about it. What do you guys think, is he gonna be here soon or will he remain in Norfolk longer, as in until September atleast? Im probably once again the minority here, but I think he is ready to move up to Bmore and take on major league hitters and see what kind of pitching prospect that we really have here on our hands.

Discuss.........

[GoldGlove21]

Alright guys, Chris has been tearing things up in AAA against competition that is much older than he is, but hes been doing that since day one. If brought up in the beginning of the year this year I would have considered him being rushed, but after seeing how well he is handling AAA, I cannot help but ask, When will he be here in Baltimore? He cut down his walk rate to under 3 a game last I checked while maintaing a similar K rate to his career norm and progressed his change up to slightly above average.

He is the only one of the Big 3 not to be promoted yet, and I think it is coming. Im beginning to think that we may be at the point where he can be called up any day now, but am I jumping the gun? He could work on going longer in ball games, but thats about it. What do you guys think, is he gonna be here soon or will he remain in Norfolk longer, as in until September atleast? Im probably once again the minority here, but I think he is ready to move up to Bmore and take on major league hitters and see what kind of pitching prospect that we really have here on our hands.

Discuss.........

Without ever seeing Chris pitch in a live game, I would think that 3 walks a game with a pitch count near 100 should get you into the seventh inning of most games. That leads me to believe that his control can be an issue at times. I would assume that he has a problem locating his fastball and throwing first pitch strikes. Can anyone dispell my thought process.

[QBsILLEST1]

Well, is it a fact that he is on a 100 pitch limit or is he limited to 90? In the Bigs, they will allow him to throw upwards around 110 pitches. His control may be an issue, but he is still allowing less walks, I doubt that he is having trouble throwing 1st pitch strikes because he would then be behind in the count a lot of the time and would probably give up more hits in a hitter's count. He does strike out a lot of batters still so that racks up pitches, as does poor fielding not making plays, extending innings due to that....but I am not sure I havent seen him pitch in person myself.....

[bassgtrst]

I could be wrong but isnt Arrietta still waiting on a promotion?

[Crazysilver03]

I could be wrong but isnt Arrietta still waiting on a promotion?

Arrieta was promoted to Norfolk (from Bowie).

[Frobby]

I think Tillman threw 107 pitches in 6 IP his last time out. I want him going 6-7 IP regularly before he is promoted.

[QBsILLEST1]

I think Tillman threw 107 pitches in 6 IP his last time out. I want him going 6-7 IP regularly before he is promoted.

Its kinda crazy though, 1 month ago, though he was still dominating, I wouldnt be ready for him to be up yet, but Im beginning to think he is pretty ready. He may not be in the "he'll be up any day now" mode, but he'll be up pretty soon....

[Hank Scorpio]

No reason to hurry this kid, or either of the other ones.

I think Hernandez should be in the rotation and Uehara should be in the bullpen, and I don't believe in Rich Hill quite yet, either.

Their time will come, but I doubt it'll be soon.

[QBsILLEST1]

Tell me this though, why should Hernandez be there and not Tillman? Tillman has pitched better than Hernandez and walks less people. Both needs to improve their stamina, but I think both their cases are a product of strict minor league pitch limits. In Bal, they would be allowed maybe 110 pitches and would be able to make it to the 6th on average, IMO. Tillman may not have more IP/Start than Hernandez, but Tillman also dealt with an early season groin injury that hurt that statistic, I am pretty confident that he would have a similar IP/Start if it werent for that injury....

[Hank Scorpio]

Tell me this though, why should Hernandez be there and not Tillman? Tillman has pitched better than Hernandez and walks less people. Both needs to improve their stamina, but I think both their cases are a product of strict minor league pitch limits. In Bal, they would be allowed maybe 110 pitches and would be able to make it to the 6th on average, IMO. Tillman may not have more IP/Start than Hernandez, but Tillman also dealt with an early season groin injury that hurt that statistic, I am pretty confident that he would have a similar IP/Start if it werent for that injury....

Well the most obvious reason it'll be Hernandez is because it has already BEEN Hernandez once.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Hernandez will be a better starting pitcher than Tillman... I'm just saying he's already been up and has started. He'll be up again before Tillman, IMO.

[Sports Guy]

Give him 4-6 more weeks worth of AAA starts....and in that time period, if he runs of a stretch of 3 or 4 starts of 6+ IP and good numbers, then bring him up.

Just because he is young doesn't mean you don't promote him.

The one thing is that you have to watch his IP this year...Should be ok going around 160 IP for the year.

[Redjack]

If we were to trade Baez/Sherrill I would like to see Tillman come up and work out of the bullpen. Saving his arm and getting him used to ML hitters so he would be primed to take a starting role next year.

[QBsILLEST1]

If we were to trade Baez/Sherrill I would like to see Tillman come up and work out of the bullpen. Saving his arm and getting him used to ML hitters so he would be primed to take a starting role next year.

Good idea, the only knock I have on that is since we are trying to build Tillman's endurance up and stretch him out, putting him in the pen and limiting him to fewer innings would hinder the development in that aspect. But, then again, if you do not plan on having him start for the rest of the year, what does it matter if he is stretched out or not because at the beginning of next season, he'll have to be stretched out again to rebuild his endurance.....

[Osfan13]

Well the most obvious reason it'll be Hernandez is because it has already BEEN Hernandez once.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Hernandez will be a better starting pitcher than Tillman... I'm just saying he's already been up and has started. He'll be up again before Tillman, IMO.

I agree, and would also like to point out that DH is easier to call up than Tillman for roster purposes. His option has already been used and he can be sent up or down as many times as they like without using another option (for the rest of this season) or ejecting another player from the 40-Man roster.

If Tillman does come up, I'd wager that it'd be closer either the trade deadline or September call-ups. No point in calling him up yet for a variety of reasons, and not all baseball related.

[Say O!]

IMO, Berken & Hernandez get shots before Tillman for a couple of reasons. Age is one factor. Tillman has plenty of time to get up here at a very young age, so no rush. Also, I believe the O's want Tillman to come up and never go down again. They want him to be ready as possible. Now with Berken & Hernandez, the O's need to see where they fit in. They are going to get chances to see if they are starters or relievers. The O's are pretty confident that Tillman's future is starter. If Tillman was already up, it would pretty tough to get a read on Hernandez with no rotation spots available. Right now, there's no open spot for either one of them.

Spot on here.

If 2009 is year of discovery, then the O's need to find out what they have in guys like Hernandez, like Bergesen, like Berken, like Mickolio, etc. Tillman will be a big part of the rotation in the future.

But fringier guys, those are the type of players the O's need to test and see if they are quality MLB guys. Tillmans, Arrieta's, Matsuz's are on a development plan and that plan does not need to be MLB in 2009 or bust. I'd rather (and it seems the O's philosophy too) is to keep the kids in the minors for as long as they need. Tillman, while his Ks and ratios are solid, he's still being challenged as he needs to move deeper into games. Arrieta and Matsuz moved up a level to increase the challenge factor. We'll see what the rest of 2009 brings, but it appears that all three are on pace for 2010, and that's phenomenal.