21-year old righty starting pitcher Chris Tillman was the Orioles’ #2 prospect heading into this season according to Baseball America. Tillman was part of the amazing haul for Erik Bedard when the O’s traded him to Seattle. Tillman started the year in AAA and he started 18 games there in which he was 8-6 with a 2.70 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP. The Orioles then decided to bring him up along with some other young pitchers when they fell too far behind in the playoff race to really compete for a spot in them. Tillman has started 11 games for the Orioles this season and he is 2-4 with a 4.71 ERA and a 1.49 WHIP. Tillman has allowed 71 hits in 63 innings for the Orioles but this was a learning experience for him. With the stuff Tillman has he should win a spot in the 2010 rotation next spring.

The Orioles have shut down 22-year old lefty starting pitcher Brian Matusz. Matusz started 8 games for the Orioles this season and he was 5-2 with a 4.63 ERA and a 1.48 WHIP. He pitched well enough to at least have his name penciled in for the 2010 Orioles rotation heading into spring training. I agree with shutting him down but not with who they are replacing him with. 35-year old lefty Mark Hendrickson will finish the season in the Orioles rotation. In 7 starts for the Orioles this season Hendrickson is 1-4 with a 6.35 ERA and a 1.94 WHIP. He might have finally found his niche this season working out of the bullpen. Hendrickson has worked 42 games out of the bullpen this season and he was 4-0 with 1 save, a 3.44 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. The Orioles should have just left Hendrickson in the bullpen.

The Orioles have given 26-year old righty reliever Jim Johnson the closer’s job with George Sherrill now pitching for the Dodgers. Johnson will have to pitch well the rest of the season before the Orioles feel safe about using him in this role. After all, they still have former closer Chris Ray on the roster and he has better stuff than Johnson. Johnson has pitched in 53 games (0 starts) for the Orioles this season and he is 3-5 with 7 saves, a 3.12 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP.

The Orioles have to be very pleased with the performance of righty reliever Danys Baez. He has pitched in 2 games covering 3 2/3 innings in which he hasn’t allowed a base runner. He has also whiffed 5 batters this season showing that his arm is getting back to where it was before the Orioles signed him and they are starting to get excited about him.

If Jeremy Guthrie pitched for a better team than the Orioles he would have at least 4-5 more wins than he has right now. Either the Orioles don’t score Guthrie any runs or the bullpen blows up behind him. Guthrie has started 27 games for the Orioles this season and he is 10-9 with a 3.15 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP. Guthrie has been without a doubt the best pitcher on the Orioles and he will be for some time based on what I have seen out of him this season.