More thoughts on Tillman's shoulder and how Orioles handle it

SARASOTA, Fla. - Competition is a good thing until it builds because your ace is injured.

The Orioles aren't saying that Chris Tillman definitely won't be one of the five starters coming out of camp, but that's the likely result after his bullpen session yesterday was bagged due to more shoulder soreness. He didn't make it to the mound. Pain on flat ground seems to have flat-lined his hopes of pitching on April 15.

In the most perfect of baseball worlds, someone already in camp would step up and claim the fifth starter's job. By performance, not by default.

This spring has been flawed on the health front. Perfection is a word so foreign that it should be cut-and-pasted into Google Translate.

Tillman's shoulder, Zach Britton's side and J.J. Hardy's back have occupied most of our attention, except for the signings and trades that ambush us.

Michael Bourn broke a finger, Logan Ondrusek rolled his ankle and injured his elbow, Chris Dickerson had swelling move down from his right shin to foot and was drilled on the elbow yesterday, the Orioles say Chris Davis has exhibited "little to no improvement" with his bronchitis and was sent home again yesterday, Seth Smith is nursing a tender hamstring and still hasn't been cleared to play following yesterday's workout.

Leave a tender moment alone.

Wade Miley was hit on the left forearm and ribcage area by one ball and still made his next start.

There appear to be five legitimate in-house candidates to replace Tillman if he's on the disabled list past April 15, as expected: Mike Wright, Tyler Wilson, Gabriel Ynoa, Jayson Aquino and Chris Lee. The Orioles seem more inclined to keep Logan Verrett in a long-relief role, but they've been known to change their collective minds.

Lee would be quite a story after a lat injury limited him to eight games (seven starts) last year at Double-A Bowie. He's never pitched in Triple-A. But he's got great stuff and the Orioles will consider him if he keeps building on his successful outings.

Lee has allowed one run, walked one batter and struck out eight in three appearances covering eight innings. He's got everyone's attention.

Scouts are watching Ynoa, who's allowed one earned run in six innings, and wondering why the Mets traded him for cash. That's a nice arm. But going back to that perfect world, he's starting every five days at Norfolk instead of replacing Tillman.

Aquino seems to have come out of nowhere to put himself in the discussion. He registered two more scoreless innings yesterday and has allowed one run and struck out nine batters in nine innings. The breaking ball is an important addition to his repertoire.

Wright and Wilson didn't take the necessary steps last season, but they bring the most experience. Wright pitched better on Saturday than the numbers showed, but he didn't properly "manage the damage," as manager Buck Showalter stated. Wilson looked good in his first two outings, but he allowed four runs and seven hits Wednesday in only 2 2/3 innings and needs to bounce back.

For some members of the organization, Doug Fister is viewed as the most appealing free agent left on the pitching market, ahead of guys like Edwin Jackson and Colby Lewis. It's always been a matter of health - the Orioles had some concerns previously about whether he'd pass their physical - and especially what kind of contract he's seeking.

Bring up Fister's name and someone inevitably will say, "How much does he want?"

The Orioles will find out just how badly they need him or someone else. They should be able to provide an update this morning on Tillman while Pedro Álvarez undergoes his physical and signs his minor league deal.

Remember when Álvarez was the big story in camp? That lasted one day.