Mychal Givens on his connection with Alan Mills and more

SARASOTA, Fla. - Let's just say he will work to keep it pretty basic and not overthink it. Once drafted as a shortstop, right-hander Mychal Givens has become a quality late-inning reliever for the Orioles. After a very good 2017, he will just look to do more of the same this year.

"Pretty much will try to keep things simple and just get better," he said concisely of his goal for this season.

Givens put together one very solid season, going 8-1 with a 2.75 ERA over 78 2/3 innings last summer. He yielded just 57 hits (10 were homers) with 25 walks, 88 strikeouts, a 1.042 WHIP and .200 batting average against.

Once a pitcher that struggled to get out left-handed hitters, he was outstanding against them last year. In 2016, lefties hit .366 with an OPS of 1.025 off him, but last season those numbers were .184 and .619. The improvement was not all about his changeup. Per BrooksBaseball.com, lefty batters hit .421 off Givens' fastball in 2016 and just .211 last year.

He says he's feeling good right now and this spring has gone well for him. He's pitched just three innings in official Grapefruit League games, allowing one earned run.

When Givens truly needs feedback he can rely on, the person he turns to is bullpen coach Alan Mills. The two have a close connection. So much so that Givens and Mills met several times over the winter and Mills watched Givens throw in person.

"I threw some bullpens to get more crisp and consistent and work on fastball command. Just try to get better. The main guy that will be around me all year is him, so he's the best guy to have eyes on me in the winter to help me get better," Givens said.

What was his feedback?

"Nothing too big. Just always trying to get consistent and work on fastball command. Get my slider a little crisper and consistent," Givens said.

This will be the fourth straight year that Mills will coach Givens. Their bond is strong.

"I gradually got to know him during spring training and then had him as a coach in 2015 (at Double-A Bowie). Since then, it's an honor to work with him," Givens continued.

"He has a good feel for what you need as a coach. Plus, he just brings the kid out of you, too. But he also makes you understand this game is hard. And at the same time have fun doing it. It is easy to be negative about things in this game, so you need to keep your spirits up and have fun."

Givens led O's relievers last season in wins, games, strikeouts and innings. He had an ERA of 0.60 from May 26-Aug. 2. That led major league pitchers with a minimum of 20 games.

But Givens takes pride in the entire O's bullpen, which he believes will once again be among the best in the league. Even without Zach Britton when the year begins.

"I think we've done it before (done well minus Britton) and we take pride in that," Givens said. "We have a family-oriented group in the bullpen and we're like brothers, but we also take care of business out there. We will just try to fill the role and try to compete and win. We need to give our slugging offense a chance to do what they do best. But we had to fill in for Zach last year. A lot of people around baseball wanted to trade for guys in our 'pen. There is a reason why."

At 27, Givens has come a long way from the kid that struggled to get his bat going at Single-A Delmarva from 2010 through 2012. Now some believe he's a future closer in training. Would Givens be up for that chance one day?

"If it happens, it happens," he said. "I've been around some great relievers here. Even going back to being around Andrew Miller here and in the WBC. I am a multi-inning guy like him and learned some things from him. But I have to worry mostly about the stuff I can control. If they put me in during the fifth, sixth or ninth, I've got to be ready."

Tillman talk: I am going to try and take my own advice. During a radio hit with 105.7 The Fan yesterday morning, I mentioned that if Chris Tillman pitched great on Tuesday, it would not mean he is fine and the reverse would be true as well.

But having said that, and understanding it was just one outing, it was pretty discouraging. And it felt just like every game he pitched last year - from the performance to the postgame comments. Tillman throwing 87 to 89 mph and walking six of 14 batters. Yikes.

That is not going to work for the 2018 rotation. But again, Tillman had too solid a track record for too long heading into last year to panic over this one outing. Concern? Yep, that seems reasonable. He can get better and needs to. But the games are dwindling in Florida and he doesn't have a lot of time to figure it out.