Over the Hill

Rich Hill turned in another poor start last night, yielding 5 ER in 3+ innings pitched while allowing 3 hits and 4 walks. As the Sun speculates this morning, and as we speculated last night at the bar while watching the game, his time in the rotation--and on the ballclub--could be up. It's now official: the Chris Tillman rumblings have become a full blown roar. Could we see him in Baltimore soon?

Tillman is scheduled to pitch tonight at Gwinnett, and Jason Berken will pitch for the O's in New York. The Orioles then have an off-day before visiting the Red Sox this weekend and hosting the Royals starting Monday. Here's how the O's rotation currently aligns:

Tonight: Jason Berken
Friday: Brad Bergesen
Saturday: TBA
Sunday: David Hernandez
Monday: Rich Hill

That TBA should be Jeremy Guthrie, assuming he bounces back from his last outing when he threw 108 pitches while still battling the lingering effects of a viral infection. It does, however, raise the intriguing possibility of bumping Tillman from his start tonight and flying him to Boston for his Major League debut on Saturday. Even if Tillman pitches tonight for Norfolk, however, he's lined up perfectly to take Hill's slot in the rotation on Monday. Given that evidence, I really think we've seen the last of Rich Hill in the rotation and the only question becomes whether or not he moves to the bullpen or is designated for assignment. The Orioles are already carrying a dozen pitchers, so moving Hill to the bullpen would necessitate another pitching move. Unless MacPhail can move Sherrill or Baez or is willing to part ways with the surprisingly effective Mark Hendrickson, I don't see how the roster can accomodate Hill moving to the bullpen. As much as it pains me to write this, it's time for the O's to give up on the Rich Hill experiment. If he's going to recapture the glory, it will have to be with another club.
___________________________________

Dog Days

The Super Bowl has passed, March Madness is still a month away, and pitchers and catchers won't report for another ten days. The Dog Days of February are here. But that doesn't mean we have nothing to talk about. On the contrary, the Orioles have been all over the baseball-related interwebs lately.

To begin with, Baseball Prospectus gives the Orioles favorable reviews on the Rich Hill and Ty Wigginton deals, and Fangraphs agrees. Hill, at the cost of Brian Burres' roster spot and a player to be named later, represents only upside. Granted, he is highly unlikely to reach that upside, but the Orioles have had good luck recently with another fallen star pitcher, and Hill is worth the risk. Wiggington, too, is a solid investment. Though unlikely to offer much upside, a two-year, $6 million deal for a player than can nominally play third base, first base, and the outfield and offer a bit of offense seems like a reasonable deal, especially since that player is a career .288/.364/.514 hitter against left-handed pitching. If used in a platoon role with some combination of Luke Scott, Aubrey Huff, and Felix Pie, he has the opportunity to provide lots of value.

More exciting here in the land of man crush has been the discussion regarding Matt Wieters. As Fangraphs points out, Wieters is really, really good. And Baseball Prospectus gets in on the action, too, pointing out that his PECOTA projections have him down to be the top-rated catcher in baseball. This season. Right now. Ahead of guys named Joe Mauer, Brian McCann, Geovany Soto, and Russell Martin. I'm making my Cooperstown 2030 reservations now.

Finally, BP also put out its Orioles Top 11 prospects recently, and they use words like "incredible pitching depth" and "makings of one of the best rotations in the game." As we all know, there are no guarantees with young pitching, but the Orioles are well on their way to being relevant again, and that's exciting.