The Orioles so called “ace” has not lived up to his billing in 2015. Chris Tillman is pitching to a 5.58 ERA and FIP of 4.79. He also has the highest BB/9 ratio in the majors of 4.56.
He is leaving a lot of pitches up, either missing high for a ball or getting crushed by the batter. This could be the result of a few issues. Two of those being a back injury, or a change in his mechanics to fix one issue, creating another. A back injury would limit Tillman’s ability to bend in his finish, which when healthy and right, keeps the ball down.