Who do you think you are, a ML manager? I wonder if Dave thinks this far in advance...

If any real fault can be found with the pitching staff it is the inability to go deeper into games. Should the pitchers be forced to pitch more innings per game as they come up through the minors? It seems most of the O's pitchers run out of gas in the 6th.

"t" is for tired arm.

Like Pie Waters has previously shown that he can pitch at AAA but has faltered when facing ML batters. However, the Orioles have nothing to lose (but perhaps a few ballgames) by bringing him up. Who knows maybe he catches a few teams off guard as they get their first look at him and he can be moved at the trade deadline for something of value.

Chris Waters, I felt, should have started ahead of Mark Hendrickson.

When pondering questions such as this one, the first thing I ask myself is "What's the worst thing that could possibly happen?" I do this because, altogether too often with this franchise, it does.

Waters first, then Hernandez. Hell, I'd even go with Jason Berken and Troy Patton before bringing Tillman up. If Norfolk keeps going the way they are, let Tillman lead that staff to a possible IL title and then worry about slotting him in next year.

Dave Hernandez's future is as a reliever and right now, I'd rather have him as our closer than anyone else in the organization.

Am I missing something? Isn't Troy Patton the most obvious candidate? He's older and more experienced than Tillman, more highly regarded than Hernandez, dominant in the minors, and recovered from his offseason surgery. Shouldn't he be at the top of the list?

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Pete's reply: Because he missed a whole year, they want to slow-play him.

This just goes to show that there is basically no justifiable reason to keep Eaton around any longer. The 3 choices you mention here Pete are more than adequate to take his place and actually have a chance to be a part of our future (not true with Eaton). Patience is a virtue but there also gets to a point where you're not accomplishing anymore by being patient, and instead you're only hurting the present ML team while simply spinning your wheels for the future.

Chris Tillman....Nooooooooo

I think he is a cut above the AAA system, but he needs to play the entire time in AAA or at least a few weeks after the All-Star break. The first half of the Orioles schedule is brutal and you want to maintain his confidence. I think Chris Waters is the next logical step and I would rather ease Tillman into the bullpen later this season. The Orioles may not have a choice in a few weeks, but in the perfect world this would be the logical step.

I think you "go for broke" with Chris Tillman. Their excuse not to bring up Matt Weiters at the begining of the season was that they wanted him to dominate at all three levels and so thats why they put him in AAA. Well guess what...Tillman has dominated at all 3 levels so by their logic of Weiters, Chris Tillman is ready. So bring him up and let him do his thing.
Here's a thought, why not bring Tillman and Weiters up together, let Tillman start his first game and Weiters first game together. Kind of like the changing of the "unofficial" guard for the Orioles.

David Hernandez.

I'd like to see Hernandez get a shot.

Pete,

I would keep Wieters down for three reasons: 1) He's only hitting .275 at AAA, 2) He won't affect the Orioles bottom line this year, and 3) we can keep him down unitl May of next year and further extend his arbitration clock. Remember, he signed a minor league deal.

I think waters should get another chance in the bigs. i am still worried about rushing everyone into the majors too soon and losing what could be great pitchers... if waters is looking good, lets give the other guys some more time, eh? he sure impressed me last year in anaheim.

Give me Hernandez. We already know what Waters brings to the table: a filled out version of Brian Burres AKA a Quadruple A pitcher. Let Tillman dominate another couple of months.

We wait with Tillman for sure. There's no rush to see him yet. I don't believe he should come up and makes any big league starts this year. Waters is a 4A pitcher and I don't think anyone would debate that. Hernandez should be the next option. He's 23 and has potential. When Eaton gets blasted tomorrow, slot Hernandez in his spot and grant Eaton his release.

Ah, to have a replenished farm system after all these years of having a barren wasteland, a result of years of incompetent drafting. What a great "problem" to have, to actually have prospects to debate over. Do we dare dream of having the top farm system in the Majors once again?

I think it's important to make it a coach's decision no matter what, not a matter of how much MacPhail or Stockstill want to gamble. They watch the prospects everyday.

In the minors a pitcher can actually be somewhat erratic but still technically be throwing strikes and post good numbers. Hitters will swing on balls or miss mistakes. For instance Penn posted pretty good numbers overall at AAA but he was somewhat erratic in the strikezone. You could sometimes tell that he wanted to throw, say, to the outer-half for a strike but he'd throw it middle-up over the plate. That ball would have gotten crushed in the majors. In the minors the life on Penn's fastball kept most hitters from hurting him.

With Hernandez you have to wonder how his nasty slider grades against major league hitters' eyes. That will make a major difference in how he adjusts. Waters has been commenably good but I don't see him much more than mediocre piece. He may be best used as a servicable reliever though. We don't have enough middle relievers who can go multiple innings. We have Baez but that's about it. If we continue to only rely on Baez for 1+ inning appearances, his arm will fall off.

I would look to Troy Patton before Hernandez or Tilman. He has already spent time in the majors so there is not the question of rushing him and he has been lights out at AA. Waters would just be another stop gap starter. He is a nice AAA player who is probably a middle reliever at best in the Majors

As much as the impulsive part of me wants to see Tillman up now, his somewhat shaky start over the weekend seemed to suggest that maybe, just maybe, he should stay where he is. Here's what I'd like to see happen within the next month:

-- Release Moeller; call up Wieters.
-- Release Eaton, call up Hernandez.
-- Move Patton to Norfolk.
-- DFA Pie, activate Scott, make Nolan the starting LF.

That'd scratch my itch for now.

Isn't Waters 30? Can he really even be considered anything more than a 4A player?

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Pete's reply: He's 28 and the jury is out. He pitched two of the five best games pitched for the O's last year.

All I know is pitchers like Ray can go. Get rid of him, Eaton and the others that are a joke. Give these kids a shot.

I don't care WHO they bring up, they just need to get Eaton the hell out of there.

Dating back to 2007 with Philly, Eaton (in 58 games) has pitched 305 innings allowing an amazing 502 baserunners (371 hits/131 walks) and has worked to a 6.31 ERA. This is his last 3 seasons of work... is there even any question now that the guy doesn't belong in the majors????

why rush tillman? let him learn a little more in norfolk. get better command of his pitches. this isn't like tampa brining up david price last year when thye had a chance to go to the playoffs. orioles going nowhere so no rush. bring up waters. he a couple of great starts last year. if he doesn't work then go get hernanadez. bring tillman up in august or sept. it's all about getting the pieces together for next year.

Hernandez....

Waters - the devil we know.

See the others in August.

Call up Hernandez. Waterboard Eaton.

Hmmmm, did you submit your column at 3 in the afternoon? Norfolk played at 12:15 yesterday.

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Pete's reply: Yes, I did submit it at about 3 p.m., but that's no excuse. I didn't know they played a day game.

My proposal for now would be the following:
1. Dump Eaton.
2. Bring up both David Hernandez and Waters and insert them in the rotation behind Guthrie, Hill and Bergesen.
3. Demote Chris Ray to Norfolk to work on another pitch.
4. Move Koji into Ray's middle-relief role.

Pete, I understand that our starting rotation is, for lack of a better word, lacking. But do we realistically have a chance of getting to .500 this year anyway? I love what the youngsters are doing in the minors, but why rush to bring them up now? Wouldn't it be more beneficial to get killed for the rest of the season, get another solid draft pick, and then start bringing the youngsters towards the end of this season, early next season? I'm not saying you are wrong, I was just wondering what your take on this was and why you would like to see some of the prospects make their major league debut this year?

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Pete's reply: Can't say .500 is impossible, but I'd sure be surprised.

Waters is 28 already and not part of our future. You go Hernandez,then Tillman, Arrieta, Patton, Matusz.

What a nice problem to have. In this case, use the seniority system. Oldest first.

im trying to find out the top players that the orioles are looking at for the draft . what position they will be picking .

Logical choice is Waters since he has ML service already. Hernandez needs to minimize his pitches in order to be an effective starter in the BIGS- he might be better suited for the pen. Let Tillman learn to pitch deep into games- again we dont need a start who can pitch 5 innings and then take a seat.

What is up with Chris Ray this year? He looks terrible.

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Pete's reply: Good question. Seems to be struggling with his mechanics a bit.

Waters is the logical choice at this time. No Question about it.

I'd like to see Hernandez. With 7 hits, 3 walks and 12 ks per nine innings I don't know what more he could do to make the case for himself.

What do you know about him Pete? With all the Ks I'm guessing he's got some serious stuff. Do you know what he throws, gun readings and such?

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Pete's reply: David is a fastball/slider/changeup guy with good velocity (90-95) and decent movement. Big question is whether his stuff plays as well in the big leagues as it has in the minors. His velocity is good, but not special. The same goes for his pitch repertoire.

Although I initially wanted to see Hernandez get his shot, Waters seems to be the obvious choice here. True, he did get knocked around in some games last year, but he looked very good in others. Hernandez has shown that he does not yet have great command; keep him in AAA until he reduces his BBs. I don't even want to hear Tillman's name mentioned as a possible call up until late August. He's only 21, if I'm not mistaken. Give him the full year in AAA to go for a title and really boost his confidence in his stuff before giving him his big league audition in September. Anyone who wants to see Patton right now must get off on watching career threatening arm injuries; he's coming off a major injury to his pitching arm, let's give him some time.

Although I initially wanted to see Hernandez get his shot, Waters seems to be the obvious choice here. True, he did get knocked around in some games last year, but he looked very good in others. Hernandez has shown that he does not yet have great command; keep him in AAA until he reduces his BBs. I don't even want to hear Tillman's name mentioned as a possible call up until late August. He's only 21, if I'm not mistaken. Give him the full year in AAA to go for a title and really boost his confidence in his stuff before giving him his big league audition in September. Anyone who wants to see Patton right now must get off on watching career threatening arm injuries; he's coming off a major injury to his pitching arm, let's give him some time.

Guthrie, Uehara, Hill, Bergesen, and Hernandez is the way to go with the rotation right now. Allow Tilman, Matusz, and Arrieta a bit more time. Hendrickson and Eaton need to go.I would not be surprised if Waters gets the call over Hernandez though, seeing as though he has pitched well as of late and gives the O's another lefty in the starting mix.

Pete-
The answer is obvious to me, but then again I'm not entrenched in the front-office politic and economic quandries, so my take is purely that of a big-time Os fan and his observations.
Waters has been good as of late, but he did have some early struggles, which is why hhe has an ERA of 4.74 and only 5.4 k/9
Tillman on the other hand has been on cruise control, dominating AAA batters. In only 7 less innings of work than Waters, Tillman has a 5-0 record, 2.25 ERA, and a 10.5 k/9 ratio.
Waters is good, but at 28, he's a known quantity, and not destined for greatness. He can be solid at times, but he won't make a franchise that much better. Tillman on the other hand is a phenom, and was drafted as such. He's only 21, and is showing consistancy in his ability to dominate at a high level. Give TIllman a shot, it doesn't have to be permanent. Either he comes up and is Tim Lincecum, or we see what his issues are on the MLB level, and send him down after a few weeks so he can work out the kinks. Either way at least give the first round pick a shot. He's going to get it sooner or later, and he's made a great case for himself thus far. If he isn't ready we have a slew of older, more experienced, but less talented SPs to take his place and keep it warm utntil his inevitable cementing into the rotation.

Guthrie, and Uehara and say saionara, Bergensen and Hill will move in for the kill, add in Tillman and it's almost a given!

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Pete's reply: James, I'm very disappointed in that last attempted rhyme. You're going to need to step up your game here.

what about Troy patton , he is pitching better than all of the others

It doesn't sound like Waters is in the Orioles' long-range plans, and Bergesen and Hernandez don't seem to be at the forefront either. In that context, it is those guys who should get an audition before the trade deadline, while the other prospects the Orioles seem higher on (Patton, Tillman, Arrieta, etc.) can get tryouts in Sept. That way, if these guys pitch well as starters, we can perhaps move them at their peak level of value (esp. Waters) or try them out in the bullpen if they don't do so well. Then we can go into next season with some defined roles and possibilities rather than the same set of question marks that we had this season, and guys being bounced around, etc.

Pete , that is ridiculous about Patton ,
if they give away free tickets than we can leave Major League pitchers in the minors and pitch Eaton

We should bring up Waters, release Eaton and only use Ray in mop-up duty until he shows he can be trusted in close games. Right now, Ray is all over the place so it makes sense to give him the proper role(actually the best spot to do that would be in AAA ball but I doubt that he'd agree to that).
A struggling Ray can be expected, given that he's coming up a major arm injury. What we need to do is assemble some semblance of a rotation. Eaton and Hendrickson are killing us. We've all seen enough of Eaton and actually, Hendrickson seems to adapted to middle relief.
Bergesen looks OK so far, Uehara should keep starting as I don't think they're paying him 5 mill to mop up, Guthrie will continue in the rotation of course and from there, I see a revolving door with the Waters-types-hoping we catch lightening in a bottle.
One question-you've been around MLB for awhile-has the current O's roation the dubious honour of being their worst ever?

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Pete's reply: Depends on how you view Bergesen and Hill.

Pete, Ray simply does not look ready after his injury. Is there any thought about sending him down to give him a chance to adjust again?
It looks like his mph is there, but the movement and command is great one pitch and flat the next.

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Pete's reply: I haven't heard any talk of that.

Tillman over Waters to help out the starters! (better?)

I'm sorry to let you down, but if you've got a better way to rhyme with the starting rotation in their projected order, I'd like to hear it Schmuck!

Please don't ask Dave, I for one have not heard Waters, Hernandez or Tillman being slotted and god knows unless your slotted you can't pitch! Then again, I've seen some slotted guys out their that couldn't pitch either!

Stick to McPhail's plan. Call players up when they are ready, not because our veteran pitchers never were. Calling players up prematurely has proven a poor strategy time and time again. Look only at the O's success with Hayden Penn as proof.

Hey Pete,

any idea on what the Orioles do with Chris Ray? I say let him pitch some mop-up duty but leave him far away from close games like tuesday nights game,

and he doesn't shape up soon send him to Norfolk!

it would be nice if Danys Baez went 3 innings every night, put we both know that won't happen.

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Pete's reply: I think what they do with Ray is work hard with him on his mechanics and see what happens.

My vote is Tillman. The guy is straight up ready and mowing them down in AAA, after doing the same in AA.

Bring him and Weiters up and lets get started towards putting together a winner for years to come.

Jeremy Guthrie would be no higher than a # 5 pitcher on a competitive team. O's should have traded him lats year when they could get something decent in return. Mr Andino needs to go somewhere and learn how to play shortstop.

Man, 4-0 already. The O's really do stink don't they? Bring up the kids as this season is baked. This team doesn't belong in the AL east because they can't outspend two teams and can't out scout the other two. Curious: How many times has Roberts been thrown out stealing this season? Seems like alot.

Hi Pete-
Great column about the change in tide for the O's. I did have one question though: why did the O's call up Nolan Reimold now instead of waiting until after the Super 2 deadline?

I know they were thin on options, but at this point in a terrible season, there had to be some other warm body to throw in to keep him under control a bit longer?

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Pete's reply: I don't think they care that much about Super-2, even though a lot of people seem to think they do. In Wieter's case, it makes sense now to wait 10 days, but I think they would have brought him up by now if he had gotten off to a hot start at the plate.

Let Tillman finish the year in the minors to build up strenght etc...and bring him up in Sept to get his feet wet in a few starts. Next spring, on the other hand,.....

My vote is for Waters to join the rotation and for Pauley to become the long-man while moving Bass into Chris Ray's role and sending Ray to the minors (he should have an option year left) to get his mechanics sorted out. Waters & Pauley may be 4A guys but I thought this year was for evaluation. Why leave guys at their age in the minors taking up 40-man roster spots? If they can't handle their jobs then bring up Hernandez. As for Tillman let him dominate AAA and get some more playoff competition (he had a poor start for Bowie in last year's post-season).

Hey Pete,

What's the status with Brad Hennessey?

..............................................................................................Pete's reply: He still hasn't pitched at Triple-A. He's on the seven-day DL.

I agree with some of the other comments, Waters did well last year and in spring training and should have been given a rotation spot. Let's correct the situation and do so now to see if he can become a future contributoer