Baltimore Orioles: Chris Tillman Is Attempting A Comeback

Former Baltimore Orioles starter Chris Tillman is looking to catch on with a team for the 2020 season.

From 2009-2018, RHP Chris Tillman donned a Baltimore Orioles jersey, leading the franchise in wins (76), innings pitched (1,145.0), and strikeouts (847) during his ten seasons in the big leagues, including two 16-win seasons and an All-Star appearance in 2013.

Despite being worth more than 2.0 Wins Above Replacement just three times during his career (career-high of 2.5 in 2016), Tillman was the top pitcher of the decade for the Baltimore Orioles, which says a lot more about the state of Orioles pitching recently than anything else.

Now, after not pitching in 2019, Joel Sherman of the New York Post is reporting that Tillman will be throwing for teams this spring as he attempts a comeback to the major leagues.

Chris Tillman, who had surgery to clean up his labrum last June and did not pitch in 2019, is planning to throw for teams during spring training. From 2013-16 for the #Orioles, the righty was 56-30 with a 3.91 ERA before going 2-12, 8.42 in 2017-18.
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) December 27, 2019

Tillman will be 32 shortly after Opening Day 2020, so there’s certainly still time for Tillman to make a comeback and contribute for a new franchise and if he shows enough during his workouts, there will surely be at least one team willing to take a flyer on him with a minor league deal.

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However, does Tillman still have the ability to pitch, even in a limited role, at the major league level? After going 16-6 with a 3.77 ERA in one of his top seasons with the Orioles back in 2016, Tillman went 2-12 with an 8.42 ERA (7.00 FIP) and was worth -1.3 fWAR, all while walking nearly just as many hitters (68) as he struck out (76) in his final two seasons in Baltimore. There was also the 30 home runs allowed in those 119.2 innings pitched during the 2017-18 seasons.

Most noticeably, Tillman’s fastball velocity took a massive plunge after his dominant 2016 campaign, falling from an average of 92.3 mph to 90.8 mph in 2017 and 89.0 mph in 2018. It’s hard to imagine that the velocity will have much more to it after another big surgery, a year out of the game, and in his age-32 season, but good for Tillman not giving up and giving it another go.

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Would I watch Chris Tillman throw in a few spring training games? Absolutely. Would I want it to be with the Baltimore Orioles? Absolutely not. But I hope he does catch on somewhere.

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