Orioles go prospect heavy, the plan for Tillman

Baltimore will travel to
Port Charlotte, Fla. Thursday to take on the Tampa Bay Rays for a 1:05 p.m. ET
contest. Highly touted prospect Jake
Arrieta will get the start, followed by right-hander Steve Johnson. Prospect Brandon
Waring will start at third base and most of the Orioles regular position
players aren’t expected to make the trip.

Opening Day starter Kevin Millwood will throw to catcher Matt Wieters in a Minor League game in
Sarasota with Mark Hendrickson also
expected to pitch. Chris Tillman
will throw in the Double-A game and get his pitch count up around the 90-100
range.

Tillman is expected to meet
with pitching coach Rick Kranitz, Minor League pitching coordinator Dave
Schmidt, bullpen coach Allan Dunn and Triple-A Norfolk pitching coach Mike
Griffin sometime on Thursday to go over a plan for the beginning of the season. 

“He’s got to pitch more for me,” Kranitz said of Tillman.  “He needs to understand and we
have to get this message across [to all the young pitchers]that we have to pitch more and not less. More innings,
less pitches, we got to pitch them.”

“It’s time to go. You got to show us what you got.”

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