Chris Tillman allowed eight runs to the Royals without completing four innings today. Here's the latest on the O's, who had won six of their past nine heading into today's game in Kansas City…
- Alfredo Simon, now rehabbing while on the restricted list, will have to be promoted or released by May 22nd or so, according to Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun (on Twitter).
- Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail told Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com that the O's are building Simon up as a starter and open to putting him back in the bullpen later.
- The Orioles may have to remove someone from their active roster soon, as Robert Falkoff points out at MLB.com. J.J. Hardy is starting a rehab assignment tomorrow and it may not be long before the shortstop is ready to return, so MacPhail and the rest of the front office have a potential decision on the horizon.
- Don't forget to stay up to date with MLBTR's Orioles-centric Facebook page and RSS and Twitter feeds.
Man, Chris Tillman is really struggling as of late. His velocity is down,location is horrible and pitch selection is baffling at times. I think he might be injured more badly than the O’s think.
he’s still the 10th youngest player in the AL. at least he has time to figure it out :-
and he does have 1 hall of famer on his BBRef comps list: Jesse Burkett. of course, Burkett was an outfielder, who pitched (extremely badly) only during his first season…
Side note: today Showalter also pitched Rupe and Rapada. Both of them would be up for possible demotions to make room for players coming off the DL. Rupe might have just saved his spot by pitching 3+ strong innings in long relief and showing a strong 95 mph fastball at that. I think a move is down to Rapada or Tillman. Right now I say it’s Rapada, who tossed a homer today.
I see Rapada getting sent down with the re-emergence of Mike Gonzalez (wow is that velocity back or what?!?!). I would love to see Simon come back strong and kick Rupe out of the bullpen (Rupe is my least favorite aspect of the Buck Showalter Era thus far).
Note to self: Don’t get arrested for murder in the Dominican Republic.
Jake Fox is basically kicking himself off the team. No offense, horrible defense, horrible game calling. I had a lot of hope for him, but man he has not bee good.
I would have loved to see them trade him (even if it wasn’t for much) after his hot spring. Tatum is so darn good defensively and actually helps the young staff. Fox on the other hand, is useless when he isn’t dropping bombs every 7.4th AB.