Tillman's new pitch

I just left the Orioles' clubhouse, which is open to the media from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. Players will head to the back fields in a few minutes for the pre-workout stretch. Chris Tillman has started to experiment with a cut fastball, though he isn't sure whether he'll carry it into the regular season. Pitching coach Rick Kranitz approached Tillman with the idea, and the right-hander decided to run with it. "It's something Kranny mentioned to me, that I might want to work on it in the off-season," he said. "I played catch with it and liked it, and I'm going to continue working with it. Who knows? I might shut it down or I might keep it going, depending how I feel in the bullpen. It's going well so far." Tillman said he needs a pitch that moves out of the strike zone, and anyone who watched his starts with the Orioles last year would probably agree. "My curveball is a 12-to-6 and stays in the zone a little bit," he said. "It might go below the zone, but they still have a chance to hit it. This is something that moves out of the zone and gets in on the lefties a little bit. It could be useful this year if I do end up throwing it." Tillman has discussed the pitch with Millwood, noting that the veteran's four-seamer has similar movement.