Chris Tillman has solidified himself as No. 1 in the O's rotation

Let's face it, Chris Tillman did not have a strong postseason for the Orioles. He gave up seven runs in 9 1/3 innings and went 1-0 with a 6.75 ERA.

He went five innings, allowing two runs, against Detroit and he went 4 1/3 innings, allowing five runs, against Kansas City.

The Orioles rotation produced just one quality start in the postseason, so Tillman was not alone in producing stats not as good as he had during the regular season.

But there's no reason to let two outings take away from three years of solid pitching. To me, Tillman remains the No. 1 pitcher in the O's rotation and I would expect to see him get his second straight opening day start in 2015.

Tillman went 13-6 with a 3.34 ERA in 34 regular season starts. Starting June 10, he recorded 20 straight starts allowing three earned runs or fewer, tying for the second-best streak ever by an O's starter. He had an ERA of 2.21 in those starts. He was rolling.

Some of his stats were very similar to those he posted in 2013. He had a WHIP of 1.22 in 2013 and a 1.23 WHIP this year. He allowed 8.0 hits per nine innings in 2013 and 8.2 this year. He pitched 206 1/3 innings in 2013 and 207 1/3 this season.

One area where he made a big improvement this season was keeping the ball in the park, particularly at home. While Tillman's 33 homers allowed were the third-most in the American League two seasons ago, he gave up 21 this season. There were 14 AL pitchers that allowed more, two on the Orioles.

In 2013, Tillman gave up 24 homers in 109 1/3 innings at Camden Yards; this year, he gave up nine in 113 1/3 innings at home. He went from allowing 1.97 homers per nine innings at home to 0.71 per nine. His OPS against at home went from .751 to .607 and Tillman went 5-5 with a 2.54 ERA in 16 home starts.

That was a significant development since he is going to make about half his starts in that ballpark.

One stat I like to look at for any starter is his team's record when he starts. To me, it can be a good indicator of whether a starter gives his team a chance to win and we find out if the club wins often when he takes the mound. Of course, the starter only controls part of that stat, but the Orioles went 24-10 for a winning percentage of .706 when Tillman took the ball. Bud Norris ranked second among Orioles starters, going 19-9 for a .679 win percentage.

Tillman is also one of the team leaders and sets a solid tone for the rotation. He wants the ball and he wants to win badly. He seems to judge his start more on the final result of the game than on whether he pitched well.

He is hard on himself and it's clear that he is sincere rather than saying what he thinks the reporters and fans want to hear.

When analysts talk about the best starters in the AL, they are probably not going to mention Tillman. But on a pitching staff that ranked third in the league in team ERA and fifth in starters' ERA, he was the best starter over 162 games.

He led the Orioles in innings, starts, quality starts, innings per start and winning percentage.

Tillman's 38 wins since 2012 are tied for 11th in the AL and his 3.42 ERA in that time is 15th.

Tillman turns 27 next April, so he is about to enter his prime years as a player. We may not have seen his best yet.

For the Orioles, he's been dependable, reliable, solid and a leader. The young kid the O's got from Seattle has turned into their No. 1 starting pitcher.