This afternoon, the Baltmore Orioles and Pittsburgh Pirates played to a 6-6 tie in Bradenton, Fla and pitcher Jake Arrieta has a rough day; however, the news of the day involved Chris Tillman.
Well, the young hurler was once again demoted as he was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk.
According to the press release by the team, “Tillman posted a 2.92 ERA (12.1IP, 4ER) in five games (one start) for the Orioles this spring.”
That being said, it’s hard to determine why Tillman got sent down; however, it might have been a numbers game with the Orioles, struggled and knowing that he has options – perhaps that’s why the decision was made.
Overall, he has been an extraordinarily inconsistent pitcher with the franchise (at least in the majors) and fans – along with executives – have been wondering “will this guy ever figure it out?
Is Tillman a major league-caliber pitcher, or a Four-A guy?
Tillman has had problems being efficient on the mound with his pitches, making it to the fifth inning, walking batters and confidence on the mound. Not good.
It drove people crazy to see Tillman pitch like an ace in one game, and look painful the next.
I was watching “Wall-to-Wall Baseball” on MASN today, and panelist Dave Johnson brought up an important point – why don’t the Orioles just allow Tillman to pitch in the majors for an extended period of time?
Good question. I don’t know.
The Orioles will not be competitive this season – or next, or the one afterwards, so why not throw him out to the fire and see if he could sink or swim? Dan Duquette in the off-season brought in more arms to shore up a rotation that ranked statistically at the bottom of every ranking last season, and pitchers like Tillman were part of the problem.
However, how can Tillman learn how to pitch in the majors if he is being shuffled umpteen times?
Now, one has to wonder has his time run short with the Orioles?
I know that he might be considered an organizational guy at this point or could be dangled in a trade, but why not see what he’s got as a member of the big league squad?
