Playoff Rooting Interest — September 29, 2014

The MLB Playoffs start with the Wild Card games on Monday and Tuesday. If you are looking for a team to cheer this postseason, here’s a look at the teams with Timber Rattlers alumni. Based on Numbers…Go, Royals! Go, Nationals!

These are the players who were on the 40-man rosters of the teams that made the playoffs.

American League:

Baltimore Orioles:
Pitcher Chris Tillman (‘07)
Outfielder Adam Jones (‘04)

Detroit Tigers:
Coach Darnell Coles (Rover w/ Milwaukee)

Kansas City Royals:
Outfielder Lorenzo Cain (‘09)
Outfielder Raul Ibanez (Foxes, ‘94)
Outfielder Carlos Peguero (‘07)
Coach Mike Jirschele (Foxes Coach ’90 & ‘91)

Los Angeles Angels:
None

Oakland Athletics:
Eric O’Flaherty (’04, ‘05)

National League:

Los Angeles Dodgers:
None

Pittsburgh Pirates:
None

St. Louis Cardinals:
None

San Francisco Giants:
None

Washington Nationals:
Asdrubal Cabrera (‘05)
Rafael Soriano (‘00)
Matt Thornton (’99, ‘00)

Chris Tillman will get the start for the Orioles in game one of the ALDS against Max Scherzer and the Tigers.

The O’s ace and Game 1 starter, Chris Tillman, isn’t quite as well known as Scherzer (and, to date, nobody’s offered him a $144 million contract), but when it comes to execution, Tillman was second to none down the stretch for an Orioles team putting the finishing touches on its first AL East crown in 17 years.

Tillman had a 4.11 ERA at the All-Star break, and he went through a nearly two-month stretch — from May 11 to July 2 — in which he walked more batters (30) than he struck out (27).

Look at Tillman’s second-half performance, though: a 6–1 record, a 2.33 ERA, a .218 opponents’ average and 76 strikeouts against just 18 walks in 89 innings across 14 starts. The O’s went 11–3 in those 14 games.

Two years ago, when the Orioles made their run to an AL Wild Card spot and wound up pushing the Yankees to the brink of elimination in the AL Division Series, Tillman didn’t log a single postseason inning. Showalter opted to give veteran Joe Saunders the ball over Tillman in Game 4.

Now, Tillman is the obvious choice of tone setter for this series.

Alumni Birthdays:
September 28:
Adonis Harrison (’96, ’97) — 38
Rob Harmon (’07, ’08) — 31

September 29:
Cirillo Cruz (’97) — 39
Jermaine Clark (’98) — 38
Jeffrey Gilmore (’06) — 31
Tyler Thornburg (’11) — 26