It’s difficult to look too much into Chris Tillman’s rocky rehabilitation assignment debut Wednesday night at Ripken Stadium.
The Orioles right-hander was making his first truly competitive mound appearance in nearly six weeks — transitioning from pitching on the back fields in Sarasota, Fla., to a minor league game environment — so his opening-inning command problems pitching for Short-A Aberdeen could be expected.
But sooner rather than later, the Orioles will expect to see results — ones much better than the two-inning, three-run performance Tillman gave against short-season hitters at Ripken Stadium — to show their $3 million investment in what was supposed to be the 30-year-old’s bounce-back season can eventually bear fruit.