Jump to content

Tillman adds two seamer, working on cutter


Crazysilver03

Recommended Posts

Baltimore Sun

In his bullpen session a couple of days before last night’s start, Triple-A Norfolk right-hander Chris Tillman worked with Tides pitching coach Mike Griffin on adding a new pitch to his repertoire – a two-seam fastball.

Tillman threw about four of them during last night’s outing in which he surrendered three runs (all on solo homers), six hits and two walks while striking out seven Charlotte batters over 6 2/3 innings. None of them were for strikes, but Tillman said that he was satisfied with the movement that he was getting on the pitch.

“The first game out, I was just trying to get it to move and I was missing down and away,” said Tillman who has allowed four earned runs in 12 2/3 innings since his demotion back to Norfolk. “But I can see the potential there. I need to build confidence in it. I’m still playing with some grips.”

Tillman’s four-seam fastball tends to be extremely straight, and team officials have encouraged him to use a cut fastball or try to throw a two-seamer, which gets downward movement when thrown correctly. Tillman said he threw about seven cutters last night, but both the cutter – and the two-seamer – are works in progress.

“My [four-seam] fastball is fine when I locate it,” Tillman said. “But my two seamer will help me get away with more, especially when my velocity is up.”

Tillman, who was struggling to break 90 miles per hour in his last outing with the Orioles against San Francisco before he was sent down with an 8.40 ERA, said he looked up at the scoreboard a couple of times last night and noticed he hit 93 and 94 on occasion. He reiterated that his velocity issues were more a result of him thinking too much, rather than focusing on making quality pitches.

Interesting that he acknowledges his fastball is really straight. Have to wonder though why they brought him to the majors if he was still working on these pitches.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 34
  • Created
  • Last Reply

He didn't just add them...He has been working on them but he obviously doesn't have confidence in them right now...He must learn to throw that pitch and have confidence in that. If he can get confidence in his 2 seamer and changeup, he is a totally different pitcher.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

He didn't just add them...He has been working on them but he obviously doesn't have confidence in them right now...He must learn to throw that pitch and have confidence in that. If he can get confidence in his 2 seamer and changeup, he is a totally different pitcher.

Yup, I was kind of waiting for this.

He definitely needs to throw a two seamer. Without question.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I imagine that it wouldn't be too difficult to add a 2-seamer. I hope he learns it quick and comes up with the 93-94 velocity he throws in AAA.

It's not the most difficult pitch to learn but it's not easy, either. The grip takes some getting used to if you've only thrown across the seams all your life, and it's a little more difficult to control. The movement can be unpredictable at first.

This really should have happened a year ago, but we have no way of knowing if that is on the Birds or on Tillman. It's possible they asked him to do this and he didn't think he needed to, so they brought him up to show him that he did. It's also possible they didn't ask.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is very encouraging, and it makes me feel much better about the decision to send him back down. At first, I didn't think he had anything left to prove in AAA. But, if another stint in AAA establishes confidence in a cutter...them I'm all for it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is good news, but I've always wondered why he doesn't add a slider. I can't think of one RH starting pitcher that doesn't possess at least a get-me-over slider. When the hitter has to think about the curve and the slider AND the change as breaking pitches, it's a lot harder, especially for righties. Just look at what Berken has been able to do with a decent slider this year.
But Berken never throws his curve or change. He's a two-pitch pitcher which works in the pen, but not as a starter unless they are both at least plus offerings (see Bedard and his plus fastball and plus-plus curveball).
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Can someone explain to me how pitchers could progress as far as Tillman without ever having mastered a two-seamer or cut fastball? Are these pitches that difficult to throw? Why wouldn't he have worked on them long ago given the obvious straightness of his fastball and these being the obvious solution?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Can someone explain to me how pitchers could progress as far as Tillman without ever having mastered a two-seamer or cut fastball? Are these pitches that difficult to throw? Why wouldn't he have worked on them long ago given the obvious straightness of his fastball and these being the obvious solution?

Because he was young and able to dominate with what he had.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is good news, but I've always wondered why he doesn't add a slider. I can't think of one RH starting pitcher that doesn't possess at least a get-me-over slider. When the hitter has to think about the curve and the slider AND the change as breaking pitches, it's a lot harder, especially for righties. Just look at what Berken has been able to do with a decent slider this year.

Slider is very tough on the elbow, which is why you rarely see starting pitchers use that pitch, instead opting for curveball or a slurvy offering.

Cut-fastball for Tillman will have same effect, so happy to read that he is working on that pitch. Nice pitch to use occaisionally to get in on the hands of a LH, or use as backdoor offering.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Can someone explain to me how pitchers could progress as far as Tillman without ever having mastered a two-seamer or cut fastball? Are these pitches that difficult to throw? Why wouldn't he have worked on them long ago given the obvious straightness of his fastball and these being the obvious solution?

Against minor league hitters, Tillman's curveball is a dominant pitch. It's less so against MLB hitters, who crush mistake hanging breaking balls and/or have the recognition to lay off ones below/out of the strikezone.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Exactly... I can not believe that the minor league staff watching Tillman thought that straight fastball was going to be sufficient at the ML level.

It sure doesn't surprise me. Player development in this organization has been extremely poor for a long, long time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


×
×
  • Create New...