Andrew Stetka: Chris Tillman's slow sink drowns O's

There's been a fairly common theme over the past five years when it comes to analyzing the Orioles. They are a team that's won because of power throughout the lineup, a strong bullpen and stellar defense. The one weak spot has always been the starting pitching. It's typically been a rotation that has been forced to overperform to some extent just to get by. Perhaps the best example of a stalwart among the starting pitching staff has been Chris Tillman.

Tillman now finds himself in quicksand. With every start, he seems to struggle more and sink even deeper. His most recent outing came this past Saturday in the Bronx, where the Yankees bashed him for nine runs in just 1 1/3 innings. Tillman allowed seven hits and three walks while recording just one strikeout and four total outs. That allowed his WHIP to bloat to 2.08, which would easily be the worst in baseball if he qualified on innings. The worst among those who do qualify is his teammate Kevin Gausman at 1.90. Tillman's season obviously got a late start because of a shoulder injury, and it's fair to question if that's a factor in this atrocious beginning to his campaign. But even after missing all of April, we're now seven starts in with Tillman and something doesn't look right. His velocity has fluctuated, mostly in a negative way. His flat fastball is even flatter than usual and more hittable than ever. When Tillman pitches, you can see that he's pitching with physical limitations. Data from BrooksBaseball.net shows a decrease in around six inches on average for Tillman's release point, which indicates some form of change in what he's able to do on the mound.

Tillman's struggles have been compounded by those of the rest of the rotation. Outside of Dylan Bundy, no one has given fans any reason to have confidence on a given night. Gausman and Ubaldo Jiménez have struggled nearly at the level of Tillman, with the latter having been removed from the rotation already. When 3/5 of your rotation has been an absolute trainwreck, it's not enough to continue to change out the cars. It may very well be time to find a different track.

There's been an issue for the Orioles when it comes to finding pitching to replace their own pitching. Alec Asher, Jayson Aquino and Tyler Wilson have all made starts at some point this season. There are a litany of other names that have been considered for roles in the rotation, from players who have made their way to the bullpen to those still in the minor leagues. With struggles from Tillman, who has been such a steady force in the rotation, there aren't many places to turn.

Finding different pieces to fill the rotation could become an even bigger problem after this season. Jiménez is a free agent, Tillman is a free agent and Wade Miley has a team option. Making $8.9 million this season, Miley's salary would jump to $12 million next year if the option is picked up. That seems reasonable enough so long as he stays healthy and on the same path. But that still leaves 2/5 of the rotation up in the air for a rotation that is already regularly up in the air.

A team will only go as far as its pitching takes it. Over the last few seasons, Tillman has given a pretty poor rotation the stability it needs to at least get by and let the other stronger elements of the team carry it. This season, there's no stability. Just runs, and lots of them. Without a complete turnaround from Tillman, things are very likely to spiral and the Orioles are very likely to continue sinking.

Andrew Stetka blogs about the Orioles for Eutaw Street Report. Follow him on Twitter: @AStetka. His thoughts on the O's appear here as part of MASNsports.com's continuing commitment to welcome guest bloggers to our little corner of cyberspace. All opinions expressed are those of the guest bloggers, who are not employed by MASNsports.com but are just as passionate about their baseball as our roster of writers.