The call among O’s fans for a front-of-the-line starter has been a loud one throughout the Orioles 2013 season. And it’s not just fans – on the national stage this past weekend, Ken Rosenthal went as far as to say the O’s are one top-tier pitcher from becoming a baseball giant. The Orioles answered by acquiring a veteran presence in Scott Feldman, but one cannot overlook the performance that Chris Tillman has put on lately.
This June, Tilly went 6-0 with a 2.68 ERA, and those wins came against Tampa, Boston, Detroit, Cleveland, and New York. Since last year’s All Star Game, Tillman is 19-5 in 32 starts – 20 of those being quality starts. However, a closer look reveals that Chris does not appear in the top 40 in ERA, strikeouts, or innings pitched. So why has he been so successful?
Buck attributes Chris’s success to his ability to make adjustments during his outings; fixing his release point, stride length, and making sure he isn’t pulling his shoulders out too early. A perfect example of this was Tillman’s last outing against the Yankees.
From the very beginning of his start it was apparent that Tillman did not have his off-speed working. Every off-speed was missing all over the place, especially high – Chris was playing with fire.
During the second inning, it looked as though things were about to explode when Tilly walked the bases loaded and then walked in the tying run. But with bases loaded, Chris adjusted his release point, got ahead of Ichiro, and forced an infield pop-up to end the inning.
From that point on, Tillman settled in, retiring eight straight batters until a solo shot by Robinson Cano in the sixth inning. Chris rebounded and sat down the next three batters in order, exiting with a line of 6 IP 2 ER 6 K 2 BB – another quality start.
All throughout this season, we have seen Tillman get himself into trouble, lose his rhythm, and look downright shaky. But, instead of crumbling like other pitchers might, he makes the necessary adjustments to succeed. This kind of quality is what separates the elite pitchers in the league from the average pitchers – it is also referred to as “the ability to workout of a jam.”
Tillman has been a staple in the Orioles rotation, and has given the Birds the chance to win every time he takes the hill. He may not get all the credit he deserves and he does struggle with his pitch count, but Chris is one those guys Buck trusts out on the mound.
There is no short leash, or quick call to the bullpen. Show lets Tillman work his way out of jams, and each time Chris learns and grows more. It is no longer just potential – Chris has become a strong starter for the Orioles and has showed the elite teams in the MLB that he can compete them, and at times, shut them down.
2 Responses
The results have been there and he’s had some great games. The only thing holding him back from TOR status is the ability to go deeper into games. Sunday night his pitch count was around 100 after 6 innings, he will need to become more efficient and turn these quality 6 inning starts into 7 and 8 innings. I think a real key to that will be making in game adjustments noted in this post a tad sooner.
I certainly agree with that. It’s so frustrating because that is what is separating him from being a front line guy. Hopefully he can become more efficient, keep the pitch count down, and then I see no reason why we couldn’t consider him a top tier guy. I also notice that he seems to get a lot of pitches fouled off, maybe more stuff off the plate when he is ahead.