Tillman

[dc.]

Damn... gave up a hit in the 7th... 6.1 of no hit ball against the Rangers. Twice through Young-Guerrero-Kinsler-Hamilton

[thundercleetz]

That Rangers lineup is insane: Young (.838 OPS), Kinsler (.823 OPS), Hamilton (1.014 OPS), Vlad (.930 OPS), Nelson Cruz (.940 OPS), these guys can all hit and hit for power. What Tillman did last night was great. He threw his cutter a lot more and the velocity on his fastball was sitting in the 92 MPH range which is really good for Chris.

 

Tillman knew this was a statement game:

 

Chris Tillman sensed teammates didn't think he belonged

[dc.]

As much as I dislike the Hunter-Flanagan pairing in the booth, I think Flanagan had a good line about Tillman this season... He was saying that it became clear he is obviously too good for AAA, but that doesn't mean things are quite perfect for the Majors. There is an adjustment.

 

Every time we send him down, he's going to blow them away. He's not a minor league pitcher. He needs to adjust to the majors, but at this point, AAA won't help with that.

 

Meanwhile... yes, the Rangers line-up is insane. More insane to me, though, is Guerrero. He hit HRs in both of the opening games, right? And I'm pretty sure both were at his ankles. No one else in the game can hit that pitch. But Vlad can hit it for a HR. And does it all the time. He's better at hitting the crap off the plate than he is at hitting what's belt high.

[thundercleetz]

Meanwhile... yes, the Rangers line-up is insane. More insane to me, though, is Guerrero. He hit HRs in both of the opening games, right? And I'm pretty sure both were at his ankles. No one else in the game can hit that pitch. But Vlad can hit it for a HR. And does it all the time. He's better at hitting the crap off the plate than he is at hitting what's belt high.

 

And putting Vlad in that lineup hitting between Young and Hamilton at that historically hitter's ballpark in Arlington is recipe for disaster for opposing pitchers. I saw this All Star production coming from a mile away, I had to have Vlad on my fantasy team this season. He has been tearing it up for my team. As good as Vlad is as a bad pitch hitter, anytime you're hitting between Young and Hamilton, you are going to get good pitches to hit. There is really nothing teams can do to pitch around Vlad in that lineup. Tillman went right at him last night. Sometimes that's just what you have to do and hope you get him to pop-up or lineup, because the guy simply does not strike out. The guy is a scary good hitter, and if he stays in Texas he could very well approach 500 homeruns and possibly the Hall of Fame.