Will a strong third pitch make Kevin Gausman a top of rotation pitcher?

The thinking from some Orioles fans goes like this: Kevin Gausman needs to improve his third pitch to become a top of the rotation starting pitcher.

While I don't disagree, I don't think it is a prerequisite. Of course, it would help a lot. Three good pitches is better than two. But keep in mind Gausman's fastball and changeup are already plus pitches.

Also, even pitchers that have three solid pitches often don't have all three working on a given night. O's manager Buck Showalter often says pitchers need one pitch to compete, two to win and three to dominate. Two to win. You can get by often with two and many nights in the big leagues, pitchers do just that.

Gausman's fastball and changeup are quality pitches. He does not always have solid command of them and those two need to go hand in hand. Command is the final phase for a quality pitch. You can have a curveball with nice break and late movement, but if you continually leave it up in the zone it will get hit around.

But the development of a consistent third pitch has been a challenge for Gausman. He moved away from the slider this year to more of a true curveball. He said he felt his ability to elevate his heater following a curveball down in the zone would work well for him. That thinking seems very sound to me.

He will need to get his curveball to the point where he can throw it early in counts to plant the seed in a hitter's mind about that pitch. Now it seems to me some hitters don't even consider his breaking ball. They go up looking for the mid-90s heat and then adjust to the changeup if they can. He is going to have to reach the point with his curve where hitters have to at least know they might see one at any point of the count and can't eliminate it.

But Gausman has plenty of talent and a strong desire to be good. Pitching coach Dave Wallace has said he asks great questions and always wants to learn. Because he had options available and the O's had five starters they put ahead of him on opening day, he started this year in the bullpen. Then he got hurt. Then he went back and forth again between the minors and majors for a while.

He's had his share of challenges. But next year he is going to be counted on to pitch every fifth day and take a step forward as one of the club's top starters. There will be no more Norfolk-Baltimore shuttle. They will be counting on him heavily.

His time to shine will be at hand. He might be able to take that step forward with two solid pitches that he already has. But three would be even better and create more margin for error.

King of the Hill: Rich Hill has now made three major league starts this year. He has fanned 10 batters in each start and allowed seven hits, two hits and one hit in those outings. American League batters are hitting .127 against him.

Yep, it is the same pitcher that went 3-3 with a 7.80 ERA for the 2009 Orioles. There were a few crazy statistical notes on Hill after that start last night:

* Hill is the only pitcher in the last 100 years to record at least 10 strikeouts in each of his first three career starts with any single AL team.

* With 10 strikeouts for his third straight start Friday, Hill joins Jon Lester as the only other Red Sox left-handed pitchers in the last 100 years to accomplish the feat.

* Hill's shutout was Boston's first two-hit individual shutout with 10 or more strikeouts since Hideo Nomo one-hit the Blue Jays on May 25, 2001.