Surprised? Roch say it's Hernandez and Tatum

[SteveA]

I'm not so sure. If we need him in early May, Tillman will be up. If we need another starter on May 23rd or later, I don't know if the Os will consider holding him back for another month to give them another year of club control. Berken could always step in for a few weeks.

Given the time Tillman was up last year, is May 23 still a critical date for club control or putting off arbitration?

I think they clearly see some things they want Tillman to work on in terms of keeping his tempo up, and getting ahead of batters. I expect that if he goes to AAA and does those things, he'll be up as soon as we need a starter. And between Guthrie's iffy performance and the fact that starters ALWAYS get hurt, we'll probalby need one by sometime in May at the latest.

[tvz1997]

Given the time Tillman was up last year, is May 23 still a critical date for club control or putting off arbitration?

I think they clearly see some things they want Tillman to work on in terms of keeping his tempo up, and getting ahead of batters. I expect that if he goes to AAA and does those things, he'll be up as soon as we need a starter. And between Guthrie's iffy performance and the fact that starters ALWAYS get hurt, we'll probalby need one by sometime in May at the latest.

Some brilliant poster said yesterday that it was June 22nd, hence May 23 plus a month. I'll see if I can find who it was to give proper credit.

*Edit* It was MurphDogg:

He was called up on July 29 last year and stayed with the club for the remainder of the season, giving him 68 days of service time. A full year of service time is 172 days. If he stays in Norfolk until June 22, he would gain an additional year of service time even if he never sees the minors again. June 22 is based on my back of the napkin calculations and may be off by a day or two. If you believe Tillman is going to be an ace five-six years down the road it may not be the worst idea in the world to get similar performance from Hernandez now to what Tillman would give now and have Tillman locked up through 2016.

[Gurgi]

I think what this means is that wins are the deciding factor. The Orioles feel Hernandez gives them the best chance to win games in spring than Tillman. If Tillman is going to be the beast we hope he will then spending a little more time in AAA isnt going to hurt. Hard to argue that Hernandez didnt out play him this spring.

[Arthur_Bryant]

I think it has much more to do with controlling the running game. I think the young guys like throwing to Moeller.

Yeah, didn't Tillman have trouble getting on the same page with Tatum in his last start?

The game-calling/rapport aspect is much more important than saving the occasional stolen base.

I hope Wieters catches six times a week.

[EL_Coyote]

D. Hernandez Congratz!

The guy came into spring training being the guy that was talked about as if he was destined to start the season in Norfolk or... in the bullpen. He no doubt will have ups and downs. However after his first child was born this year and now winning a rotation spot. It certainly looks like 2010 is off to a fantastic start for him!

[Sports Guy]

For a year now, we have heard how the young pitchers enjoy pitching to Moeller...Moeller knows these guys....and now you replace him? Horrible decision making there.

I would love to hear the justification for this.

[Slappy]

Agree with most on the Tatum decision, if it's true. I still like having a veteran backing up and mentoring Wieters.

The Hernandez decision bothers me less. His ST stats are phenomenal, he has a good MiL history to add weight to them, and Tillman is several years younger. A few more months at AAA is not going to stunt his growth, and we have to find out if DH is the real deal or not.

[Moose Milligan]

For a year now, we have heard how the young pitchers enjoy pitching to Moeller...Moeller knows these guys....and now you replace him? Horrible decision making there.

I would love to hear the justification for this.

Maybe they like throwing to Tatum just as much?

[Sports Guy]

Maybe they like throwing to Tatum just as much?

Great...but Tatum doesn't know them as well and I don't think he is as good offensively either.

Moeller has good chemistry with these guys, why change it? Makes no sense.

[wildcard]

Tillman will be back by May 1st if Guthrie keeps pitching like he has been pitching.

Who gets waived off the 40 man roster to make room for Ohman?

[whatagame]

Maybe they think controlling the running game/run prevention is more important to the young guys in Baltimore and Moeller's mentoring more important in Norfolk with Tillman and the others. I hope Moeller is eventually a coach with the organization.

[NCRaven]

Maybe they like throwing to Tatum just as much?

And maybe they've watched Moeller's horrid throws this spring. I have a hard time using the word horrid in any sentence that involves the decision on a backup catcher.

As to Hernandez vs. Tillman, their performance last year was nearly identical. This spring, Hernandez appears to be more ML ready right now. And, Hernandez was considered a solid prospect in his own right. So, I have no problem with this decision. Now, Guthrie's place on this team is another issue. His performance last year along with this spring begins to bring into question how long you can put up with this lack of production. While I do believe that Hernandez has earned the fifth starter spot in this rotation, Guthrie has not earned anything based on his last 13 months. I understand that veterans don't always have to earn their spot in spring training, but April and May will be important months for Guthrie, in my opinion.

[Dr. FLK]

For a year now, we have heard how the young pitchers enjoy pitching to Moeller...Moeller knows these guys....and now you replace him? Horrible decision making there.

I would love to hear the justification for this.

Maybe the Os want a backup C who can throw to 2B? Maybe they would rather have Moeller in the minors working with Tillman (wasn't Tillman the one who credited Chad the most for his development?)? Maybe we're making too big of a deal out of the backup C for the 74th season in a row?

[Mackus]

Great...but Tatum doesn't know them as well and I don't think he is as good offensively either.

Moeller has good chemistry with these guys, why change it? Makes no sense.

Obviously they see something in Tatum they like more than what they see in Moeller. Whether it is a slightly better bat, better defense or whatever. They obviously aren't just picking names out of a hat.

[Lucky Jim]

And maybe they've watched Moeller's horrid throws this spring. I have a hard time using the word horrid in any sentence that involves the decision on a backup catcher.

As to Hernandez vs. Tillman, their performance last year was nearly identical. This spring, Hernandez appears to be more ML ready right now. And, Hernandez was considered a solid prospect in his own right. So, I have no problem with this decision. Now, Guthrie's place on this team is another issue. His performance last year along with this spring begins to bring into question how long you can put up with this lack of production. While I do believe that Hernandez has earned the fifth starter spot in this rotation, Guthrie has not earned anything based on his last 13 months. I understand that veterans don't always have to earn their spot in spring training, but April and May will be important months for Guthrie, in my opinion.

I think this is fair. If DH looks like an MLB starting pitcher, you devalue him if you throw him in the bullpen. Now, this might be the correct movie if Tillman looks like a better MLB starting pitcher. But - even in his okay start against the Red Sox - Tillman still needs to command his FB better. That's clearly something he can work on at AAA, all the while we delay devaluing DH.

It makes intuitive sense, as long as Tillman doesn't feel jerked around and/or there's not some subtext we're unaware of.

I agree re: Guthrie, as well.