Alan Mills on Hunter Harvey, plus a look at a suddenly taxed O's bullpen

After he gave up one unearned run over four innings in his latest start last night for Single-A Delmarva, right-hander Hunter Harvey lowered his ERA, which was tied for first in the South Atlantic League at first pitch. The O's 2013 top draft pick is now alone atop the ERA leaders in that league, lowering the number from 1.06 to 0.86 last night. A check of his pitching line indicates his command was not as sharp as usual. He walked five, more than he had in his first three starts combined. But the developmental process for this 19-year-old from North Carolina is now well under way. He is 1-0 with that nifty ERA over 21 innings. He has given up just 11 hits with nine walks and 23 strikeouts. Harvey has the best batting average against among league starters at .162 and opponents are just 2-for-22 against him with runners in scoring position. His pitching coach at Delmarva is former Oriole Alan Mills, who also worked with Harvey last summer at short-season, Single-A Aberdeen. "He's matured physically and gotten a lot stronger since last year," Mills told me last week at Delmarva's Perdue Stadium. "I see it more in his legs. He's gotten bigger and stronger. He's young, so his body is still in the developmental stage. His body hasn't matured. "But you can see his body start to fill out, but he's still got a ways to go. But he got stronger in the offseason and that is a compliment to our strength and conditioning program." The poise that Harvey showed on the mound last season is still very much there. His dad Bryan, the former big league closer, clearly taught this kid a lot about the game. "He has a competitive fire," Mills said. "When he gets on the mound, he can get mad with the best of them and I mean that in a good way. He doesn't like to get beat, he likes to compete. "He's sure of himself and has a confidence that is rare for a kid his age. You know some of that comes from his dad. He's very composed and poised on the mound." Delmarva got the win 4-1 last night. The bullpen pitched five shutout innings with Dylan Rheault getting his league-leading fourth win and Jimmy Yacabonis picking up his league-best fifth save. Now transitioning to a bullpen that has struggled the last few games - the Orioles 'pen. It is probably no coincidence that, as O's starters have failed to go six innings in five of the last six games, the bullpen would get taxed and show signs of wear. The stat sheet shows us that. The bullpen, over the last two games, has worked 6 1/3 innings giving up 12 hits and nine runs. The O's 'pen had given up just four homers in the first 17 games, but that total was matched the last two days as Zach Britton, Darren O'Day, Evan Meek and Josh Stinson have given up a longball each. We're going over old ground here somewhat, but the O's starters have to start delivering more innings and quality starts. The Orioles have five quality starts, the fewest in the American League and none over the last six games. The next man up is Chris Tillman. He's 2-1 with a 1.71 ERA and is the only O's starter so far with more than one quality start - he has two. It's Tillman time tonight as the O's look for a better start and some rest for a taxed bullpen.