Chris Tillman

[Stotle]

Ty and Stotle,

Would you say his CO has a chance to be a plus pitch?

Personally, I do, yes. I think it flashed plus in several starts last year between AAA and ML.

[RShack]

I think that 1) his 4S is a little on the straight side

Is that fixable? Or is it a case of "it is what it is"?

[Arthur_Bryant]

Is that fixable? Or is it a case of "it is what it is"?

Nobody asked me, but my take is that you don't fix movement on a fastball. You might tinker with grip, but in general you've got a live pitch or not.

The fix is location.

[Stotle]

Is that fixable? Or is it a case of "it is what it is"?

Nobody asked me, but my take is that you don't fix movement on a fastball. You might tinker with grip, but in general you've got a live pitch or not.

The fix is location.

Yeah, life tends to be a combination of arm slot, arm action, arm speed and ball grip (generally speaking, of course). The first three generally aren't things you tinker with if everything else seems to be working.

[Why_Knott?]

Jed Hoyer thinks you can:

http://sandiego.padres.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100116&content_id=7929046&vkey=news_sd&fext=.jsp&c_id=sd

I think PETCO, coupled with the NL West is a little bit more extreme than OPACY and the Orioles pitchers.

Also, as far as the pitch fx data, I think that horizontal movement is much more important than vertical movement. This may be pretty basic, but every pitcher will have a lot of vertical movement due to height and because they are standing on a 12" mound.

I think that Tillman's height alone will make him more difficult to hit (has anyone ever hit against a 6'5 pitcher? It's looks like their handing the ball to the catcher). Tillman's vertical and horizontal movement won't be a huge factor if he can start placing the ball within the zone. Coupled with his curve and emerging change up, it's safe to say that we have a good one on our hands.

[TyCobb]

Is that fixable? Or is it a case of "it is what it is"?

It isn't something that doesn't needs to be fixed. If he generates less backspin out of the 4S he can add more drop. He can do that by changing the amount of pressure with one of the 3 fingers on the ball. That will also add some Horizontal movement.

Something to keep in mind is that Tillman threw way too way FA last season.

FA - 60%

CU - 25%

CH - 13.7%

If he adds a FC (cutter) then I would love to see a break down like this.

FA - 50%

CH - 20%

CU - 20%

FC - 10%

I am in love with his CH. The more he throws it the better. I don't think MLB hitters will be able to tell the difference from his FA until it is too late.

[backwardsk]

http://masnsports.com/2010/02/should-os-fans-have-concerns-a.html

Melewski writes about Tillman today.

[Sports Guy]

http://masnsports.com/2010/02/should-os-fans-have-concerns-a.html

Melewski writes about Tillman today.

Thanks for the link....I greatly question the judgement/evaluation of anyone who feels Tillman should start the season in AAA.

[Old#5fan]

Thanks for the link....I greatly question the judgement/evaluation of anyone who feels Tillman should start the season in AAA.

I would love to see Jim Palmer work with Tillman.