Keegan Akin 2019

[Frobby]

45 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

If a pitcher is on the 40 and has innings left to throw I'd bring him up and give him a taste if he earned it or not.

Won't do him any harm, and maybe a taste will help motivate him during the offseason.

He’s not on the 40.   He’ll need to be in it in December.  

[Can_of_corn]

4 minutes ago, Frobby said:

He’s not on the 40.   He’ll need to be in it in December.  

I was speaking in a general sense.

 

[sportsfan8703]

10 hours ago, Frobby said:

I wouldn’t call him up.    He hasn’t earned it.   

What about the 15 other pitchers in Norfolk that’s been called up?  He’s got a top 5ish ERA for SP with at least 15 starts. 

I see nothing wrong with starting him in September. Let him get a taste of the MLB and learn what he needs to improve. 

[LookinUp]

14 hours ago, Frobby said:

I wouldn’t call him up.    He hasn’t earned it.   

I'm not saying he's earned it, but I think I like Akin more now than I did a few months ago. All of the context about AAA this year says it's bad for pitchers. I feel like he might be one offseason of real fitness away from taking another step forward and becoming a viable ML starter. I think he's close, even if he hasn't necessarily forced his way up.*

*this ignores the fact that many others were given shots without forcing themselves up. 

[Frobby]

43 minutes ago, LookinUp said:

I'm not saying he's earned it, but I think I like Akin more now than I did a few months ago. All of the context about AAA this year says it's bad for pitchers. I feel like he might be one offseason of real fitness away from taking another step forward and becoming a viable ML starter. I think he's close, even if he hasn't necessarily forced his way up.*

*this ignores the fact that many others were given shots without forcing themselves up. 

Akin is undoubtedly better and/or has more potential than many of the starters we’ve used this year.   But this is about what’s good for his development, not whether he’s better than Chandler Shepherd.    In two years Shepherd will be long forgotten.   The goal is to groom Akin to be successful in the long run, even if that means throwing the Shepherds of the world to the wolves to keep Akin where he needs to be.   So I’m in favor of promoting him only when doing so advances that goal.    That might be this September; it might not be until halfway through next season.    I’ll leave that for Elias to determine.    

[panick]

3 hours ago, LookinUp said:

I'm not saying he's earned it, but I think I like Akin more now than I did a few months ago. All of the context about AAA this year says it's bad for pitchers. I feel like he might be one offseason of real fitness away from taking another step forward and becoming a viable ML starter. I think he's close, even if he hasn't necessarily forced his way up.*

*this ignores the fact that many others were given shots without forcing themselves up. 

Why hasn't he done this before?

[LookinUp]

28 minutes ago, panick said:

Why hasn't he done this before?

Who's to say he hasn't, or maybe it wasn't a priority? I have no idea.

[panick]

5 hours ago, LookinUp said:

Who's to say he hasn't, or maybe it wasn't a priority? I have no idea.

It was a priority for the O's 2 or 3 years ago. He was sent to FLA after the season for fitness training.

Maybe he has the kind of body that Stewart has - the kind that will always look like it's out of shape. Or maybe Akin just doesn't want to get in shape and stay in shape. I've always felt sorry for people who have to work at being in shape.

[Legend_Of_Joey]

56 minutes ago, panick said:

It was a priority for the O's 2 or 3 years ago. He was sent to FLA after the season for fitness training.

Maybe he has the kind of body that Stewart has - the kind that will always look like it's out of shape. Or maybe Akin just doesn't want to get in shape and stay in shape. I've always felt sorry for people who have to work at being in shape.

I feel like there was a story about how Akin showed up to Spring Training out of shape and it wasn't well recieved.

[ChuckS]

1 hour ago, panick said:

It was a priority for the O's 2 or 3 years ago. He was sent to FLA after the season for fitness training.

Maybe he has the kind of body that Stewart has - the kind that will always look like it's out of shape. Or maybe Akin just doesn't want to get in shape and stay in shape. I've always felt sorry for people who have to work at being in shape.

95 percent of the adult population has to work at being in shape.  

Some people just have bad bodies/diet.  Doesn't mean they aren't in shape.  Ever look at Daniel Cormier?  That guy is in incredible shape, but you wouldn't necessarily know it by looking at him. 

[Frobby]

Akin made his closing argument for a September call-up last night:  6 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 7 K’s.    

His final numbers at Norfolk: 112.1 IP, 109 H, 64 R, 59 ER, 61 BB, 131 K’s, 4.73 ERA, 1.51 WHIP, 10.5 K/9, 2.2 K/BB.    His biggest problems this year were walks and high pitch counts.  He currently leads the International League in both strikeouts and walks, though it’s possible that he could be caught in either category by starters who have one start remaining this weekend.

It will be interesting to see if he gets called up after the weekend.   

[ChosenOne21]

112.1 isn't a ton of innings. Wouldn't shock me if they call him up to get more innings if they don't plan on sending him to the AFL. Although when you look at pitch counts his workload is probably the equivalent of 130-140 innings, so I dunno

[LookinUp]

24 minutes ago, ChosenOne21 said:

112.1 isn't a ton of innings. Wouldn't shock me if they call him up to get more innings if they don't plan on sending him to the AFL. Although when you look at pitch counts his workload is probably the equivalent of 130-140 innings, so I dunno

Good point. It's actually ~20 fewer innings than last year. He should be able to handle more if they want.

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, ChosenOne21 said:

112.1 isn't a ton of innings. Wouldn't shock me if they call him up to get more innings if they don't plan on sending him to the AFL. Although when you look at pitch counts his workload is probably the equivalent of 130-140 innings, so I dunno

 

1 hour ago, LookinUp said:

Good point. It's actually ~20 fewer innings than last year. He should be able to handle more if they want.

For what it’s worth, Akin threw 2,259 pitches last year, 2,023 this year.    So he could certainly make 2-3 more starts in the majors, or go to the AFL and make a few of the 3-inning starts they tend to throw out there, without increasing his workload from last year.   

[MurphDogg]

19 minutes ago, Frobby said:

 

For what it’s worth, Akin threw 2,259 pitches last year, 2,023 this year.    So he could certainly make 2-3 more starts in the majors, or go to the AFL and make a few of the 3-inning starts they tend to throw out there, without increasing his workload from last year.   

Considering starting pitchers in the Majors throw 2,800+ pitches per season, a slightly increased workload would probably be for the best, to build up to that level.