2016 2nd Round Pick - Keegan Akin - LHP - Western Michigan

6 foot 1 Pitchability. Fastball to 96 MPH. Has already pitched twice in a week.

http://www.mlbdailydish.com/2016/6/7/11879650/2016-mlb-draft-interview-keegan-akin

We seem to love guys with thick lower halfs.

Passed up Nolan Jones, who some thought we'd take at 27. This is one I'll watch.

Akin's delivery reminds me of Zach Britton's.

Game log.. Lot of game with more than 100 pitches.

http://www.wmubroncos.com/fls/4600/Statistics/Baseball/2016/HTML/plyr_9.htm

Passed up Nolan Jones, who some thought we'd take at 27. This is one I'll watch.

Akin's delivery reminds me of Zach Britton's.

Yep, of course Jones goes with the next pick. Was hoping we'd take him at 54. Guess he has high bonus demands or something.

His Twitter https://twitter.com/search?q=keegan+akin&ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Esearch

From MLB.com:

"Western Michigan hasn't had a player selected in the first three rounds since Ryan Van De Weg (Padres) and Luke Wilcox (Yankees) in 1995, but Akin should end that drought this June. He matched potential first-rounder Eric Lauer pitch for pitch in an April matchup in front of several scouts and obliterated big leaguer Pat Misch's school strikeout record, fanning 129 in 105 innings heading into the NCAA tournament. He pitched the Broncos to their first Mid-American Conference tournament championship by winning two games in five days (and MVP honors) while permitting just one unearned run in 13 2/3 innings.

One of the hardest-throwing lefty starters in the college ranks, Akin usually pitches at 91-94 mph and peaks at 96 with late life on his fastball. Though he's not a big guy, he maintains his velocity deep into games and generates it without much effort in his delivery. There's some debate as to which is better, his low-80s slider or his tumbling changeup, but both should be at least average offerings.

Akin has three pitches and fills the strike zone, so he'll definitely be a starter going forward. He fared well against quality competition in the Cape Cod League last summer, another point in his favor." VIDEO

College stats: 7-4 record, 1.82 ERA, 109 IP, 72 H, HR, 30 BB, 133 K, .192 AVG

Not bad. Good pick Mr. Duquette

I am surprised we didn't take Nolan Jones though we were linked to him in first round.

I am surprised we didn't take Nolan Jones though we were linked to him in first round.

You can call up college arms and stick them in the bullpen very early in the development process.

I am surprised we didn't take Nolan Jones though we were linked to him in first round.

The rumour is it will take a lot of money to talk him out of college.

The rumour is it will take a lot of money to talk him out of college.

Braves took a big overslot guy. Of course they have a lot of pool money...

The rumour is it will take a lot of money to talk him out of college.

Yeah but figured with us pretty close to home we would have better shot then some other teams.

I liked first pick but not sold on this one as much. I liked Jones from reading about him. I was also super high on Reynolds even in first round and he was still available.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Orioles?src=hash">#Orioles</a> pick of Keegan Akin is one of the sleepers of the draft. Big chanegeup, breaking ball is sharp, 91-94, very aggressive</p>— Frankie Piliere (@FPiliereD1) <a href="

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Frankie Piliere

@FPiliereD1

National Prospect Writer for D1Baseball | Former Scout with the Texas Rangers. Mayor of the Cape | Email: frankie@d1baseball.com

Cape Cod

D1Baseball.com

Crawford

54. Baltimore Orioles: Keegan Akin, LHP, Western Michigan

Akin was sensational in the MAC this year, as our own Grant Jones can attest to. The worries here are that he has less-than-ideal size, and he has a lot of inconsistency with his slider. He has excellent arm strength, however, and he can throw all three pitches for strikes, giving him at least a chance to start.