Tillman should have never been brought up

[Old#5fan]

Can we merge the Tillman threads into one?

It's pretty ridiculous the amount of threads that pop up about the same subject.

He looked like he was throwing BP tonite. I hope there is nothing wrong with his arm but it sure seems like it when his fastball never hit 90 mph!

He looked like a right handed version of Rich Hill where his only good pitch was his curve so they just sit on his BP fastball.

I hate to say it but it looks like there is something physically wrong with the lad. Perhaps he's trying to pitch through an injury like Jim Johnson did because the results are eerily similar - getting hammered with a BP fastball.

[Crazysilver03]

He wasn't ready.

He abandoned what he was supposed to work on in AAA - fastball command down in the zone, because he wasn't getting results and went back to the way he was pitching - up in the zone - so that he could get AAA hitters out again and get back to the majors quicker because his stat line would look better.

The trouble is, that ML hitters won't be fooled and will feast on the fastballs up in the zone.

The Orioles should have realized this and forced him to continue to work on fastball command in spite of his stat line because it would have made him a better pitcher.

I just hope Tillman's trade value doesn't take a major hit now.

And you know this how?

[jdouble777]

Um...ok...

I do not have any idea what this statement means, but I am going to assume you are being sarcastic. If so, then what is your deal? You know how many times I on here people are like are you serious, that is crazy, what are you talking about and then time passes and what I said usually ends up being exactly what should have happened or not happened. What about the things I mentioned:

He is amassing service time which will send him into arbitration

He has zero control of his fastball

He does not have a valid changeup

His ERA was higher this round of AAA than last season

He has not had a sub 2 ERA in AAA that screams he should not be there

Does not make it logical to send him down?

[bringinbaines]

He looked like he was throwing BP tonite. I hope there is nothing wrong with his arm but it sure seems like it when his fastball never hit 90 mph!

He looked like a right handed version of Rich Hill where his only good pitch was his curve so they just sit on his BP fastball.

I suggested centering a package around Chris Tillman to get Stephen Drew for these reasons. He doesn't seem to have command of his pitches and it looks like he is throwing BP at times. Out of the starting pitching calvary he is the one I have the least faith in and its not really close. If the Brewers or Dbacks value him I say its upgrade time at SS or 1b.

In the long run I think we are looking at Britton anyway.

Guthrie

Arrieta

Matusz

Bergessen

Britton

[RShack]

And you know this how?

It actually happened that way... in the bizarro world in his head...

[Roberts1]

I saw him pitch a few times in AAA and he looked sharp. I don't know what happened to him??

[BaltimoreTerp]

I do not have any idea what this statement means, but I am going to assume you are being sarcastic. If so, then what is your deal? You know how many times I on here people are like are you serious, that is crazy, what are you talking about and then time passes and what I said usually ends up being exactly what should have happened or not happened.

Um...ok...

[JTrea81]

And you know this how?

He said it himself:

"Obviously I was disappointed [going to Triple-A], but I think I was more stubborn on the things they told me to work on, like fastball command," Tillman said. "I would get 0-2 on a hitter and would try to put a guy away with a good fastball instead of going to what I normally go to. So, I was trying to do too much of what they were trying to tell me to do, instead of going out there and pitching."

The young right-hander struggled mightily in his first three Triple-A starts before going 5-1 in his last seven outings, including April 28's complete-game no-hitter.

"I wanted to stick to [fastball command], nothing else, because I wanted to get [to the Major Leagues] sooner rather than later," Tillman said. "I took a step backwards, once I saw what it did to me, [and] then I was able to mix everything in and go from there."

http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100531&content_id=10643146&vkey=news_bal&fext=.jsp&c_id=bal

So he stopped focusing on fastball command, when that is something he should have kept focusing on as we can see he still needs a ton of work with that, for better results at the AAA level.

[Sports Guy]

They said in the pregame that Kranitz wants him to put on 20lbs.

He needs to fill out his frame some and if he does, I would think you would see him throw the fastball a little harder.

As I said last week, he doesn't look impressive at all right now. He has poor command and while his stuff is potentially very good, its pretty mediocre right now.

And on top of that, he doesn't throw his changeup enough.

You have to give him until the end of the year...he has to gain experience and learn up here.

[OregonBird]

I've never seen so many fastballs right smack in the middle of the plate as I did tonight w/Tillman.

Heck, a 90mph in the middle of the plate won't even beat the college super regional teams playing on ESPN/ESPN2.

[VeveJones007]

That fastball was just terrible today. This was the first time I really had doubts about Tillman's future. Hopefully he can put on those 20 lbs. and add some velocity and maybe some movement.

On another note, if we can get Wieters' swing from the left to look like that HR from the right, he'll be in business. That was a thing of beauty.

[webbrick2010]

He said it himself:

http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100531&content_id=10643146&vkey=news_bal&fext=.jsp&c_id=bal

So he stopped focusing on fastball command, when that is something he should have kept focusing on as we can see he still needs a ton of work with that, for better results at the AAA level.

Who cares about his command, he was struggling to hit 90mph with his fastball. Brad Bergeson has a better fast ball.

When is AM going to stop making personnel decisions based on his need to have his guys succeed.

David Hernandez has a 98 mph fastball and we put him in short relief on a team that wins 25% of its games.

Jason Berken has a nasty slider and good movement on his 93 mph fastball and he is mopping up after Tillman.

Why is this so???

Because AM traded for Tillman, just like Pie made the team last year over Reimold.

[Sports Guy]

Tonight, Tillman looked like an amateur. His fastball was 86-88 in the first two innings and it was straight as an arrrow. Most of his curveballs and changeups were high in the zone. He had nothing. It was like batting practice. He just looked awful. I thought the looked decent in his first start after being recalled. Since then, he's been terrible. This kid didn't get to be a top national prospect by throwing straight 86-88 mph fastballs. I'm not sure what the problem is but even when his stuff is good, he can't get away with pitching up in the zone. This is two of his last three starts where he barely went 2 innings. He doesn't look like he belongs. I'd rather have him back at Norfolk working with Griffin. Kranitz wants him to put on 20 lbs? How about helping him now? Kranitz hasn't developed or helped to improve one young starting pitcher here. Crowley gets a lot of criticism. Kranitz gets none. Send Tillman down. I know the O's won't bring up Britton even though he's more ready than Tillman was. I think Britton could survive up here a lot better than Tillman just because of his grounball tendencies. Tillman's stuff reminds me too much of Hayden Penn.

I think Kranny was getting the benefit of the doubt in the beginning because the starters were doing well...Well, now they are faltering and your comment about him not helping the young pitchers is dead on.

Also, I agree about how Tillman's stuff looks in comparison to Penn. But you can win with that stuff when it is commanded well...Penn had head and health issues or he may have been able to be good.

I do wonder if Tillman is healthy when you see such a drop in velocity.

[BaltBird 24]

Maybe we can just add Tillman's name to the long list of Oriole pitching prospects who just weren't as good as we thought they were going to be. It's not like we have a high success rate with these things.

[accinfo]

Who cares about his command, he was struggling to hit 90mph with his fastball. Brad Bergeson has a better fast ball.

When is AM going to stop making personnel decisions based on his need to have his guys succeed.

David Hernandez has a 98 mph fastball and we put him in short relief on a team that wins 25% of its games.

Jason Berken has a nasty slider and good movement on his 93 mph fastball and he is mopping up after Tillman.

Why is this so???

Because AM traded for Tillman, just like Pie made the team last year over Reimold.

Agree, Agree!!! Tillman is just more BS hype. Throw him in with Liz, Coppinger, etc, etc. He can't get his fastball above 89, 90, leaves it up in the middle of the plate. I am just tired of the same old song year after year. In the era of the internet I get more tired of the so call "bloggers" buying into this nonsense. "The Calvary is here," "You have to be excited about watching this." Blah, Blah Blah.