Heading in to the offseason, the Orioles were targeting a starter for the middle or back of the rotation, a presence in the middle of the lineup and some bullpen help. In my eyes, they did all of the above with the signing of Justin Duchscherer, several acquisitions for the middle of the lineup, including Vladimir Guerrero and a few signings for the bullpen like Kevin Gregg.
However, with only a couple weeks left until opening day, Duchscherer has only pitched two innings in one spring training game. The rest of the rotation appears to be set with Jeremy Guthrie, Brian Matusz, Jake Arrieta and Brad Bergesen. So who will fill the fifth spot in the rotation?
At the moment, Duchscherer is supposed to be that starter, but he is injury-prone and has lived up to that this spring. That leaves the competition for the fifth starter role between Chris Tillman, Rick VandenHurk and Zach Britton.
Tillman appears to be the most likely of the group to get the nod. He has the major league experience and, as Heath at Dempsey’s Army points out, has nothing left to prove in Triple-A. Tillman’s biggest issue that I’ve seen is his control. He has the stuff to dominate, as he did in Texas last July, when he gave up just two hits and an unearned run while outpitching Cliff Lee. He has also shown questionable control with 70 strikeouts and 55 walks. If Tillman can pitch more like he did in Texas and less like his career suggests he does, he will make it tough for Duchscherer to crack the rotation once he comes back.
VandenHurk was another candidate, but he hasn’t shown he can control his pitches. VandenHurk was acquired from the Florida Marlins in July last season for Will Ohman. It appears VandenHurk will either be coming out of the bullpen as the long reliever or be exposed to waivers and sent to the minors. He hasn’t had a great spring, but is out of options which could give him a spot on the 25-man roster.
That leaves us to discuss Britton. Britton has been developing in the Birds’ farm system for some time and has dominated at every level before being promoted. By the end of the 2010 season, Britton was pitching for Triple-A Norfolk. Britton has had a strong spring, but the Orioles may want him to get more seasoning in Norfolk before promoting him to the majors.
In the end, I believe the job will belong to either Tillman or Duchscherer, if he’s healthy. This doesn’t make for a bad rotation so the O’s should be more competitive in the American League East this season.
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