Earlier this week we learned that the Orioles are close to a deal with Korean right-hander Chong Tae-Hyon and the pact should become official after he undergoes a physical. Here's more on the O's..
- Mark Reynolds' propensity for striking out didn't faze the Orioles much when they traded for him last winter, writes Rich Dubroff of CSNBaltimore.com. The O's acquired the 28-year-old from Arizona for relievers David Hernandez and Kam Mickolio roughly one year ago. Manager Buck Showalter is leaning towards playing Reynolds at first this year with Chris Davis at third base.
- Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com takes a look at Baltimore's rotation and notes the club would be willing to deal Chris Tillman. Tillman, 23, posted a 5.52 ERA with 6.7 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9 in 13 big league starts last year.
- While the Orioles are waiting to see if Yu Darvish will be posted, fellow NPB pitcher Wei-Yin Chen is another name to keep an eye on, writes Dan Connolly of The Baltimore Sun. Earlier this month, Tim Dierkes wrote that the 26-year-old left-hander could be signed for less than $20MM over four years.
- The Orioles' interest in adding relief pitchers could open the door for Jim Johnson to return to the rotation and Steve Melewski of MASNsports.com is all for it. Melewski could see Johnson thriving in a starting role as he has enough quality pitches to make the transition.
Ahhh Tillman, He had such promise what happened to him.
Rick Kranitz
Agreed, Thumbs Up!
yeah, its kranitz’s fault that 88mph with no movement doesnt work against major league hitters.
He can’t overpower ML hitters like he can those in AA. As a result, he throws too many pitches and can’t get past the 5th. I think he might be better off as a reliever.
You know what I was thinking the same thing. For short bursts he looks great. So why not put him in the pen and see what happens
He may end up there eventually, but he’s shown flashes that he can be a starter.
I really like the idea of starting some of these rookie pitcher off in the pen. I’ve long thought that it was a bad thing that most teams have moved past this old strategy.
That’s not really accurate. He was never a power guy. In reality, he has a nasty spike curve, and AA and AAA hitters don’t hit offspeed stuff nearly as well as ML guys. They also recognize the offspeed stuff better so he doesnt get the swinging strikes he gets in the minors.
Nailed it. I think his stuff wasn’t breaking as much in the majors either. He really lost mechanics/confidence in what he was doing.
Yeah I think what happened is this:
(Having been a pitcher through HS and throwing a K-curve or spike curve or whatever you wanna call it) I think that it requires more commitment than a traditional CB. You only have 1 finger imparting spin on the ball so you need to really snap your wrist and pray it goes where you want it to. When Tillman struggled locating his 4-seamer and didn’t get swinging strikes on his curve he started aiming it more to try to get called strikes. This KILLS your spin and movement.
That’s why you’d see him get ahead in a count and throw a ridiculous curve, but then 2 pitches later throw a spinner. That’s my 2 cents at least.
Ps – Nice new pic. And you play minecraft? We should be best friends.
Haha thanks, yea I finally figured out Disqus, although for some reason it took away like 300 likes when I signed up.
As for Minecraft, I played a decent amount over the Summer but have since cooled on it, especially given the grind of law school (which I am in). I am pretty ADD, so if anything fun exists, I probably have done it (legal things lol).
Disqus pulled my pic of Flacco in the snow from some other account when I signed up. Not sure how it worked but I went with it.
I’m hot and cold with minecraft, I just watched a documentary about Macchu Pichu and it got me hooked again. I’m a huge gamer and sports nut so I’m with you on the ADD part. Shoot me an e-mail: nevercloser07@yahoo.com. I have a new website (which has been featured on here twice in the blog section) and would like to get your thoughts. You could also become a writer if you’re interested. I’m getting my MBA so it’s tough to post as much as I’d like.
Solid, I sent you an email. Looking forward to seeing the site.
Nailed it. I think his stuff wasn’t breaking as much in the majors either. He really lost mechanics/confidence in what he was doing.
I think he started trying to overthrow and just lost his concentration, confidence and rhythm. His breaking pitches stopped breaking. He has a ton of potential still, but he is going to need to rediscover the touch he had on his breaking pitches, but more importantly regain the confidence in them.
Call me crazy, but I still believe in the guy.
I think he started trying to overthrow and just lost his concentration, confidence and rhythm. His breaking pitches stopped breaking. He has a ton of potential still, but he is going to need to rediscover the touch he had on his breaking pitches, but more importantly regain the confidence in them.
Call me crazy, but I still believe in the guy.
Reynolds traded to Cubs (3B) anyone?
NPB ( Nippon Professional Baseball )… not Japan League.
The Orioles (and myself) might be willing but would anyone even want him. A 5+ ERA over 150 big league innings plus he forgot how to pitch at AAA too.
The dude is 23, you can’t just write him off like he’s a proven flop in the majors. Shuttling him back and forth between the majors and triple A was bad for his development.
Plus bringing him up on a team with no run support and no bullpen is HORRIBLE for the confidence of a young pitcher. Oh you pitched an 8 inning shutout but Mike Gonzalez/Kevin Gregg blew your win in the 9th? Thats ok, just do it again next time.
Plus bringing him up on a team with no run support and no bullpen is HORRIBLE for the confidence of a young pitcher. Oh you pitched an 8 inning shutout but Mike Gonzalez/Kevin Gregg blew your win in the 9th? Thats ok, just do it again next time.
I look at JJs numbers from when he was a starter in the minors, and quite frankly I’m not overwhelmed. He was average at best at AA and AAA. He started to shine in the majors as a reliever. I know he’s got “starter stuff” (which I believe applies to anyone who can throw more than one pitch for a strike), but to me a dominating reliever is more valuable than a middling starter.
Of course, if we had five middling starters we wouldn’t need to entertain the idea of putting Johnson in the rotation. Unfortunately, we don’t even have that many.
I’m sure Tillman is in demand…
Besides our INF striking out a LOT, how is Chris Davis with the glove at 3rd?
That was sarcasm.
Davis can’t be any worse than Reynolds or Bell defensively.
Really, did you watch Chris Davis at Third Base during the last month of the season?
I like him at first base. Davis himself has even said he feels more comfortable at first base. This is a problem because Reynolds is currently penciled in at first.
I didn’t say he was good. I said he wasn’t worse than Reynolds or Bell.
This is going to sound like the dumbest thing I’ve ever said, but if you take away the errors Reynolds looked good at third. It just seems like he has “senior moments” out there, but his fielding otherwise is pretty good.
I know, sounds dumb, but too late I already said it.
From what I saw watching the games, most of Reynolds’ errors were throwing errors caused by rushing, either because he was trying to make a play he shouldn’t have made or because he was rushing throws he didn’t need to rush. His glove is very good, and that showed at 1B. His arm is pretty unreliable, at least last season.
Tillman needs to go somewhere free of expectations and work with a pitching coach who is capable of rebuilding him from the ground up. He’s going to need a lot of work, but he is still young enough and has the stuff to turn it around. Pitching in a bigger park and getting away from the DH would probably benefit him, as well.
Reynolds may K a lot (understatement), but having him hitting 5th or 6th in a good lineup for roughly $7 million dollars doesn’t sound like that bad of an idea. He still is a major power threat and could force more cookies for the guys in front of him. That of course is if the O’s traded him to a better team.
Tillman should have never been regarded highly. He does the same thing now as he did in the minors, scouts should have seen that his success was due to minor leagues chasing bad pitches and not being able to hit the high fastball like MLB players can. As soon as I saw him throw one pitch I knew he would never amount to anything in the majors.
Its really easy for you to get down on a guy whose only 23. I am not saying he will every amount to anything, but a mid-5 era at age 22 doesn’t really prove anything.
maybe not- but 88 with no movement and no command of the strike zone proves a lot.
That he’s lost his way, not that he can’t recover.
maybe for you. ive seen enough.
maybe not- but 88 with no movement and no command of the strike zone proves a lot.
Tillman for Macier Izturis and a low A ball prospect?
Angels would never give up Izturis for Tillman, let alone throw in a prospect.
How about Callaspo and a prospect for Reynolds?
No, I don’t want anymore Izzy’s on the Orioles. Us fans need a break!
I sure hope Chris Davis does better with the O’s than he did with us here in Texas. Maybe moving him to 3rd base might do something.
Now the Orioles there is a team that wastes money on power hitters and big names that don’t help them win.
Spend big on Darvish, then add some of those guys and they might finally compete again.
The Rays can win in that division. The Yankees are getting old at many positions with players too expensive and/or entrenched to replace. The Red Sox won’t collapse like this year every year, but this is the second straight year they sat out the post-season.
And with the one game wild card playoff, three teams from the same division can get in.
Spend big on Darvish. In one word, NO!