More starting rotation talk

SARASOTA, Fla. - Orioles right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez has a spring training ERA of 9.45. That ranks second best so far among the five projected starters for the Orioles' 2016 rotation:

0.00 - Kevin Gausman
9.45 - Jimenez
10.80 - Chris Tillman
16.62 - Yovani Gallardo
22.24 - Miguel Gonzalez

As manager Buck Showalter noted yesterday, and plenty of others have noted often, the rotation is going to need to pitch like it did in 2014 and not 2015 come next month.

Perhaps it was Showalter's admission in a sense that it is no longer early anymore, but he said after Tuesday's game against Toronto that "There is some competition there (for the rotation) that I don't think people understand."

It is not exactly clear which "people" he was referring to. It could have been reporters, pitchers or both.

It is fair and accurate to point out that it is early in one sense. That is that Tillman and Gausman have appeared in one official spring game and Gallardo in just two. Jimenez and Gonzalez have combined to pitch a total of 12 1/3 innings.

But if there are still jobs to be won, there are plenty of candidates that seem ready to throw their hats in the ring. That list would include Vance Worley, Mike Wright and Tyler Wilson.

Of those three, Wilson, who pitched 3 1/3 scoreless on Tuesday against Toronto, has the best spring stats. Over 9 1/3 innings, he has allowed 11 hits with no walks and six strikeouts and a 2.89 ERA.

Showalter had vast praise for the 26-year-old right-hander out of the University of Virginia Tuesday in Dunedin. Wilson was the 2014 Orioles minor league Pitcher of the Year.

Showalter said of Wilson: "He's not scared of the competition. There is a lot to like. ... He pitches every pitch like it's the seventh game of the World Series and you like that. He brought a lot of energy and tempo to the game and I think the offense followed that."

Wilson can be and no doubt has been overlooked at times. Because he was was not a high draft pick (Round 10) and doesn't throw 95 mph, he was not a highly-ranked prospect. In fact, he has never been rated in the Orioles' top 10 according to Baseball America.

On the farm, Wilson spent parts of two years at Single-A Frederick, Double-A Bowie and Triple-A Norfolk. He is the opposite of a pitcher that was rushed. Perhaps that helped him be ready when he got his chance last year. He went 2-2 with a 3.50 ERA in nine games for the Orioles.

Always eager to improve his game, Wilson told me Monday about how he learned to pitch up in the strike zone and above that as well in the majors last year while watching other pitchers like Tillman do so effectively. It can be tricky if you can't throw the ball by hitters to elevate a pitch. But just as pitchers try to move the ball to both sides of the plate, they can also keep hitters off balance by pitching both up and down at times.

"Pitching up in the zone was something that we did a lot last year," Wilson said. "Maybe it was something I didn't do as good a job of in the minor leagues. That is be able to, not necessarily just pitch up and out of the zone and waste a pitch, but to have an intent to throw the ball under someone's hands or up and out over the plate for a certain type of swing or to be able to set up the next pitch. That is one small example of the many things I have learned up here.

"It is a concept that pitchers understand. It is a universal concept in the game, but as far as the refining of it, that is something I've learned a lot about. I don't want to make a big deal out of it, but it is little details like that that can really make the difference between winning and losing."

With 16 games down and 17 to go in spring training, it is not early anymore. Some of the shaky O's pitching has fans at home nervous. At the same time, their manager in Florida reminded us to jot down those rotation names in pencil for now.