Call-Ups: Baltimore Orioles, Chris Tillman and Troy Patton
By Wally Fish
Once again it is collaborative post time here on Call to the Pen. This month’s topic is September call-ups. To get the ball rolling, I posed the following question to each of our Lead Writers, “Which player do you want your team to call-up in September and why?” It is a simple question but I think you will find the responses to be very diverse.
Taking the path less traveled this month, I decided to post each team’s write-up individually instead of grouping them by league or division as we have done in the past.
Originally I planned to chime in with my own thoughts on each team but based on the fact that September 1st is tomorrow (!) I’ve been forced to all but eliminate my thoughts from these going forward. Sadly there just aren’t enough hours in the day. One other note, I decided to cut off part of the name of this series. I never was a fan of it and the “Hang-Ups” aspect just didn’t work and largely got in the way.
Up 9th in our series: the Baltimore Orioles. Representing Birds Watcher is the site’s Lead Writer, Dan Soderberg. Check out what he has to say after the jump.
Dan’s Take:
As September 1st approaches Andy MacPhail and Buck Showalter will have to decide which youngsters deserve a call up to the Orioles. I know many fans will clamor for the club to recall top pitching prospect Zachary Britton but I think bringing up Britton would be a mistake. Britton has pitched extremely well this year between AA Bowie and AAA Norfolk. He’s the likely winner of the Jim Palmer Award, given each year to the organization’s top pitcher. By all accounts, he’s earned it. However, Britton is not yet on the 40 man roster so a move would be required to accommodate his promotion. Another factor counting against Britton is the fact that he’s already logged 147.1 innings this season and he likely has another starts left at Norfolk. That start will push him into 160 inning range for the season. Britton, who is just 22, pitched 140 innings for Class-A Frederick last season. It’s doubtful the organization would allow Britton to have much more of an innings increase over his 2009 total. Lastly, there’s simply no room at the inn for Britton. The Orioles already have 5 starters pitching well and will need to find some September innings for another 22 year old in Chris Tillman. All those factors lead me to suggest that the Orioles give Britton a pat on the back, the Jim Palmer Award, and a chance to win a rotation spot in Spring training; but not a September callup.
Brandon Snyder is another player that I’ve heard getting some support for a September promotion. I understand that some fans want to see what the team has in Snyder. A quick glance at his AAA stats suggests that Snyder is far from ready for big league success. Snyder is a former #1 pick and performed well in AA in 2009, but he simply has not earned a promotion to the Bigs. After watching under-performing prospects get called up out of necessity for the past 12 years I think the Orioles are finally in a position to reward the prospects who have performed the best. Sadly, Snyder is not in that group.
I would like to see the Orioles recall Chris Tillman and Troy Patton.
Tillman made 4 lackluster starts for the Orioles earlier this Summer. He’s had an outstanding season at Norfolk and has nothing left to prove at AAA. The team could go to a 6 man rotation in September allowing Tillman to get another 3 or 4 starts and reducing the workload for the other young starters (Matusz, Arrieta, Bergeson).
Patton spent 6 days with the Orioles last month but failed to get into a game. He’s had an up and down season at AAA but I think it’s time for the organization to get a look at Patton against Major League competition. As a lefty Patton could be an option for the long relief role in 2011. He certainly couldn’t be any worse than Mark Hendrickson and he’d come at a fraction of the price.
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My Notes:
I can’t get behind Dan’s suggestion of Troy Patton. A guy that gives up too many hits with only decent control and a lack of strikeout stuff doesn’t get me riled up even if he’s a lefty. He might have a future as a long reliever in 2011 and beyond, but making that transition cold turkey in a September audition is probably not the best path to take. If the O’s want to convert Patton, let him start the adjustment over the offseason, bring him to camp exclusively as a reliever next spring and see what happens.
We may disagree on Patton, but I completely agree with Dan’s stances regarding both Britton and Tillman. Both are spot on.
When it comes to Brandon Snyder, Baltimore may as well call him up but I’m not optimistic about his future in the majors either way.