Baltimore Orioles' Dave Trembley keeps an eye on young baseball talent

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Orioles manager Dave Trembley acknowledges his starting pitchers haven’t played to their potential. But he’s in no rush to speed up the development of the franchise’s top prospects.

“[Chris] Tillman and [Bradley] Bergesen and [Jake] Arrieta and those guys, I think those guys ought to just get as much experience under their belt as they possibly can,” he said. “I think you’ve got to be careful that you don’t make a mistake and bring people up here too quick. It’s a different animal when they turn those lights on here, very different.”

Tillman and Bergesen have shined for Double-A Bowie this season, leading the team to a 57-45 record. Arrieta has helped Single-A Frederick to a record of 44-55 and was selected to the U.S. Olympic team to play in next month’s Beijing Games.

Tillman (7-3), a 22-year-old right-hander, still is working on his command, but has 94 strikeouts against 48 walks and a 3.11 earned-run average. The right-handed Bergesen (11-3), 22, has posted a 3.05 earned-run average and yielded just eight home runs in 103 1/3 innings.

Arrieta (6-5), a 22-year-old right-hander, is proving he has the makeup of a power pitcher, posting a 3.06 earned-run average and 112 strikeouts against 48 walks in 106 innings.

“[Arrieta] is a guy who has a bit of mechanical issues right now, which are related to command issues,” Ben Badler, an assistant editor of Baseball America, said. “They want to work that out with him, if they can. If he does, there are a lot of teams that like him for the raw quality of his talent, but only if he can refine it.”

Trembley, however, cautions against looking at only statistics.

“I think you have to be very careful about those kind of people, bringing them to the big leagues,” he said. “Unless, of course, you know about their makeup.”

dcarey@baltimoreexaminer.com

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