Tillman's third start
Orioles rookie Chris Tillman is about to take the mound for his third major league start, which still is way too early to draw any conclusions from the results, but I'll be watching to see if he backs off a bit on the velocity in favor of more movement on his fastball.
I'm sure I'm not the only one who has noticed that his fastball is straight as an arrow when he throws it in the 93-94 mph range, so I'm wondering if pitching coach Rick Kranitz will try to get him to relax a little more on the mound and let the ball do more of the work.
When you've got talent like Tillman's, it's not hard to dominate minor league hitters with a high-velocity fastball and decent breaking stuff, but it takes a little more nuance than that in the big leagues. He can be effective with the stuff he took out there the first two times, but his command will have to be very, very good to dominate major league hitters without more movement on the ball.
Lots of local interest in today's afternoon game at Rogers Centre. Blue Jays rookie Brett Cecil, who hails from Dunkirk, MD, has won five of his first six major league decisions.
Instant update: I'm not sure what to make of this, but the MASN pitch clocker has Tillman throwing in the mid-80s in the first inning. That's not quite what I was talking about. I was thinking more like 89-91 mph. It's possible that the Toronto radar gun is off, but this is a little bit unsettling.
Comments
I was thinking the same. The gun might be off. Cecil is slow, too.
Saw DT's explanation about Wieters and upcoming workload. Its as if it just dawned on Trembley that Wieters has arrived. bizarre
and where was DT on that phantom tag play at 2nd base? Its was clear by Reimold's body language that he was never tagged.
Its one thing to wait for the young players to mature, but so frustrating when the manager is just feeling his way as well.
Posted by: jsf26@comcast.net | August 8, 2009 1:44 PM
It's way too early to judge Tillman's future, but thus far, Tillman is having problems with throwing strikes (too many walks, and behind too many hitters), and home run balls.
Re Roberts' injury - why doesn't every hitter wear a shin guard?
Posted by: OriAl | August 8, 2009 1:59 PM
I posted yesterday about an impact bat that it looked like the O's could use. What about a trade for Derek Lee. I'm just trying to think of someone that may not cost us as much as Adrian Gonzalez or someone like that. And man this plate ump stinks today. He is not giving either of these pitchers anything. I've watched Cecil and Tillman throw excellent pitches on the corners, and he calls them balls.
Posted by: Daniel | August 8, 2009 2:01 PM
Please, no more trades with the Cubs; unless it involves Mora and Huff.
Posted by: Please | August 8, 2009 6:26 PM