Notes on DJ Stewart, GCL opener and more, plus a Chris Tillman take

Checking in with a variety of news and notes and wrapping this up with another look at Chris Tillman's season:

* The collegiate honors have been rolling in for the Orioles' first-round draft pick, Florida State outfielder DJ Stewart.

He was recently named first team All-America by the American Baseball Coaches Association and Baseball America. Stewart earlier claimed first team honors from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association to become a two-time first-team All-American. He is the first Seminole to repeat as a first-team recipient since Buster Posey in 2007 and 2008.

Stewart hit .318 this year with 15 homers, 59 RBIs, a .500 OBP and .593 slugging percentage. Entering the College World Series, he led the nation in walks and walks per game (1.08). He is also the third Seminole in school history to be named a two-time Academic All-American.

Since I know you will ask, I don't know exactly when the Orioles will sign Stewart, but barring something very unforseen, I fully expect it to happen. There are no major negotiation snags I've heard about.

* Single-A Delmarva right-hander Garrett Cortright has been added to the rosters for tomorrow's South Atlantic League All-Star game. Cortright joins Conor Bierfeldt, Jomar Reyes and Steve Wilkerson among the Shorebirds' representatives for the game in Asheville, N.C. Delmarva has had at least four players chosen to represent the Northern Division in back-to-back years.

A 40th-round pick out of Canisius in 2013, Cortright is 2-1 with a 1.50 ERA and four saves in four chances. Over 30 innings, he has walked six and fanned 17 and he has one of the best groundball ratios in the league.

* The Single-A Frederick Keys had four players named Carolina League All-Stars. The Carolina-California League All-Star game is set for tomorrow in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. Drew Dosch was named to the team, but was recently promoted to Double-A Bowie. The other Keys selected as All-Stars are infielder Jeff Kemp, outfielder Tucker Nathans and pitcher Mitch Horacek.

* With the playing of these all-star games coming up, the first half is over in the Carolina League and the South Atlantic League. Frederick finished 32-38 while Delmarva ends the half at 33-35. Both teams start the second half with 0-0 records on Thursday.

* The Orioles hit a team-record eight homers last Tuesday at home against the Phillies. Beginning today, the ball that Ryan Flaherty hit for the eighth homer and bat he used to hit that blast will be displayed at Sports Legends Museum. Manger Buck Showalter's lineup card from the game will also be on display.

* The Orioles' Rookie-level Gulf Coast League team began a new season today. The GCL Orioles beat the Twins 2-0 as Ariel Miranda, Cristian Alvarado, Miguel Batista and Jake Bray teamed on a three-hitter.

The GCL team will play its first home game of the 2015 season at the Ed Smith Stadium complex tomorrow at noon against the GCL Twins.

The Orioles are scheduled to play 30 GCL home games between June 23 and Aug. 29. For fans near Sarasota, Fla., the games are open to the public at no cost. Parking also is free and located in the East lot at the corner of 12th Street and Tuttle Avenue. Game times and location are subject to change without notice. A link to the season schedule is available online at www.orioles.com/Sarasota.

* Double-A first baseman Trey Mancini has been named Eastern League Player of the Week for the week ending Sunday after recording four multi-hit games during the past week. Mancini hit .444 (8-for-18) with two doubles, a home run, four RBIs and four runs scored in six games.

A take on Tillman: There is a lot of discussion today about Chris Tillman, and one fair question to ask is this one: Is Tillman struggling or is Tillman struggling mostly against Toronto?

In four starts versus Toronto this year, he is 0-3 with an ERA of 15.00. In 10 starts against every other team he is 5-4 with a 3.92 ERA and five quality starts. Tillman's stats are way off what he did for the Orioles last year, and at this point, there has to be concern about him among the O's brass. But at the same time, is this mostly due to those terrible 15 innings against Toronto or a bigger issue?

Tillman's 2014: 1.23 WHIP, 8.2 hits/nine innings, 2.9 walks/nine innings, 4.01 FIP.
Tillman's 2015: 1.60 WHIP, 10.0 hits/nine innings, 4.5 walks/nine innings, 5.10 FIP.