DETROIT _ Orioles right-hander Chris Tillman said Friday that he's feeling "pretty good," and is ready to make his return from the disabled list Sunday for the series finale against the Detroit Tigers.
Tillman hasn't pitched since Aug. 20 and has been on the disabled list since Aug. 21 with right shoulder bursitis. He has thrown two bullpen sessions to ensure that the problems that cropped up after that last start won't be back again.
"That was the thing," Tillman said. "It didn't really bother me when I was pitching. It was kind of the post, so that's what we kind of wanted to get out of the bullpens, how I felt the day after and the next day. So far, it's been pretty good."
Initially, Tillman was bumped back a few days after his shoulder discomfort cropped up while the Orioles were in California. He pitched well in a win over the Oakland Athletics on Aug.11, but woke up feeling something off the following day and was held out as a precaution.
His insistence that he didn't feel anything in the Aug. 20 game against the Houston Astros belies the raw results he had on the mound in a game that saw him allow six runs on six hits with five walks without retiring a batter in the third inning. He missed his spots badly at times, but said after that start that it wasn't discomfort, only rust that did him in.
He threw one more bullpen session before he was shut down for two weeks.
As such, Tillman knows there might be some more rust to deal with, though rust and no shoulder concerns will be far preferable to an achy shoulder.
"I'm sure there will be (rust), but that's what we've been working on in the bullpens," Tillman said. "That's what we had two or three bullpens for. We had time to work on it, not just go out, feel good and pitch like I did last time. I'm trying to knock off that rust in the bullpen and get ready to go."
Tillman is 15-5 with a 3.76 ERA, only recently passed on the team's starter ERA chart by Friday's starter, Kevin Gausman.
Since Tillman's most recent start, the Orioles have a 4.47 team ERA.
