EVERETT – When Chris Tillman was a freshman in high school, the first time he was called up to varsity – a team made up exclusively of seniors – he threw a one-hitter against the second-ranked team in Nevada.
Tony Butler did Tillman one better his freshman year. Tabbed to start the state championship game, he threw five no-hit innings on the way to victory.
It’s safe to say these two have always been ahead of the curve.
Tillman and Butler remain on the leading edge, giving the Everett AquaSox the Northwest League rarity of having a pair of 18-year-olds in the starting rotation.
The Northwest League isn’t usually a destination for players straight out of high school. In the last three years only one other player – infielder Matt Tuiasosopo in 2004 – played for Everett the same year he graduated from high school. Currently there are just six other 18-year-olds in the entire Northwest League.
But in Tillman, a 6-foot-5, 195-pound right-hander who was the Seattle Mariners’ second-round pick in this year’s draft out of Fountain Valley (Calif.) High School, and Butler, a 6-foot-7, 205-pound left-hander who was taken a round later out of Oak Creek (Wis.) High School, Everett has two youngsters who were thrown straight into the fire.
“They’re exceptional guys,” Everett manger Dave Myers said. “They’re second- and third-round picks with good size and good arms. It has to be that type of situation – they’re not going to take a high-school kid in the 30th round and send him up here to try and compete against college players. But I think these two guys can handle that.”
It helps that both of them have been in this situation before.
Tillman began standing out from has age group at about 12, when he began throwing harder than his teammates. He joined a traveling team and was a key contributor to a squad that went 10-0 at the Junior Olympics when he was 14. His first varsity start – which was played in front of several pro scouts who were there to look at a player for the opposing team – first put him on the map, and he began to get serious attention as a junior.
“I’d say the reason I stuck out more was because I was probably blessed with a little more ability,” Tillman said.
“I’ve always been young,” Tillman added. “That’s what made me better, competing with the older players. I feel like I’d rather play with older guys than guys my own age.”
Butler began standing out at an even younger age. He played in older age groups since the time he was 10 and always managed to be one of the best players. Also a standout basketball player – he received attention from several mid-major programs such as Creighton – he too began to notice a bevy of pro scouts during his junior year.
“When I played against guys who were a year older than me it felt like they were in my grade, and when I played against guys in my grade it felt like they were a year younger,” Butler said. “Now that I’m here I don’t feel like I’m a few years younger. I don’t feel that I’m the best player here, but I feel like I’m doing all right.”
Both proved beyond the Arizona Rookie League. For Peoria, Butler went 2-0 with a 2.57 earned run average, giving up just five hits and nine walks in 14 innings while striking out 25 before being promoted in late July.
Tillman was even better for Peoria, going 2-0 with a 0.82 ERA, allowing nine hits and five walks in 11 innings while striking out 16 before being called up a week ago.
Things have been a little more up and down since arriving Everett. Butler has been virtually unhittable, allowing just nine hits and striking out 24 in 172/3 innings during five starts. However that’s been tempered by control issues (17 walks), leaving him with an 0-1 record, but a very respectable 2.91 ERA.
Tillman struggled in his first start for the AquaSox, giving up five runs on four hits and four walks in 22/3 innings and taking the loss. He did show promise with five strikeouts in the outing.
Though still finding their legs at this level, Tillman and Butler have displayed why they were taken so high in the draft, as well as why they’ve been pushed forward at a rapid rate.
Which has both thinking about being ahead of schedule again, only this time for the major leagues.
Said Tillman: “I want to get there as soon as possible, three years from rookie ball at the most.”
Butler contemplated the question with a laugh: “Whatever I say will probably sound greedy so I’ll just keep my mouth shut on that one. If it happens it happens and the sooner the better. But I just want to be ready when I get the opportunity – if I get the opportunity.”
Should Tillman and Butler remain on their current pace, that opportunity will be coming sooner rather than later.
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