Keegan Akin’s debut

[Frobby]

33 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Carroll is always as bad as the stat line suggests.

Well, he is bad, but the defense behind him was pretty bad too.   Not a stellar day for the team defensively, though Smith did make a very nice backhand catch of a line drive near the foul line.    

[Pheasants]

7 hours ago, Frobby said:

As is his habit, Brandon Hyde waited until we were on the losing side of a blowout to debut a rookie pitcher.    Tonight it was Keegan Akin’s turn, entering the game with the O’s losing 6-1.

Akin started with two scoreless innings, then allowed a solo homer in his third inning of work.    If he’d stopped there, his line for the night would have looked pretty solid.   But he allowed two base runners to start his fourth inning, both of whom scored after Hyde replaced Akin with Cody Carroll, who allowed both inherited runners to score while allowing four runs of his own to finish the inning.    

Akin’s final line: 3 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 HR.     His one strikeout came against another rookie making his major league debut, 20 year old Luis Garcia.   Akin threw 48 pitches, 29 for strikes.   

From what I saw, Akin is a very fast worker with good mound presence.   His command was OK but not particularly good.    He threw mostly fastballs and sliders.    I only noticed one change-up, which he used to induce a soft fly out in his third inning of work.    The fastball sat 90-92.    The breaking pitch was kind of slurvy, but more slider than curve.    

My overall impression is that he’s more likely to be a reliever than a starter.    But, I’m not going to pronounce judgment based on a single appearance in a blowout game.    


 

I thought Hyde tried too hard to get an extra inning out of Milone and then--possibly because we were so far behind--an extra inning out of Akin.  If he had pulled Milone it still would have been a close game, and Milone did not look good enough the inning before to deserve another inning.  For Akin, it would have been simply a matter of how well he felt about his outing.  

[Beef Supreme]

Akin looks like a LOOGY to me. But the was legislated out, for the most part. So, not sure he has a role in MLB.

[Aristotelian]

Akin looked good-not-great to me. Stuff was not great, but had good command and worked quickly. Will need to stay ahead of hitters and avoid mistakes or he will get hit hard at the major league level. Could be a TJ McFarland type.

[Can_of_corn]

7 minutes ago, Beef Supreme said:

Akin looks like a LOOGY to me. But the was legislated out, for the most part. So, not sure he has a role in MLB.

I'd say "guy that can eat some low leverage innings" is a role in a MLB bullpen and Akin can fill it for the league minimum. 

[Beef Supreme]

Just now, Can_of_corn said:

I'd say "guy that can eat some low leverage innings" is a role in a MLB bullpen and Akin can fill it for the league minimum. 

To "guy that can eat some low leverage innings," I would add "for a non-contending team."

[Can_of_corn]

4 minutes ago, Beef Supreme said:

To "guy that can eat some low leverage innings," I would add "for a non-contending team."

I think most contending teams need one of those guys as well.

[O-The-Memories]

Akin should get the innings that Carroll is getting. We cannot allow Carroll to continue pitching until he figures out his command. I'm struggling to think of a pitcher that has ever struggled more. 

[GuidoSarducci]

1 hour ago, Beef Supreme said:

Akin looks like a LOOGY to me. But the was legislated out, for the most part. So, not sure he has a role in MLB.

LOOGY's are pretty much dead with the new three batter rule

Edited August 15, 2020 by GuidoSarducci

[MurphDogg]

24 minutes ago, O-The-Memories said:

Akin should get the innings that Carroll is getting. We cannot allow Carroll to continue pitching until he figures out his command. I'm struggling to think of a pitcher that has ever struggled more. 

Carroll hasn't been on the team since July 30th. He was only up for last night's game as the 29th man and was immediately sent down.

[makoman]

I'm not really an optimist usually, but it's weird to me that for some of you it only took 3 innings to peg this guy as basically one of the last guys in the bullpen on a 2nd division team. I'm glad I didn't get to watch last night!

[Can_of_corn]

7 minutes ago, makoman said:

I'm not really an optimist usually, but it's weird to me that for some of you it only took 3 innings to peg this guy as basically one of the last guys in the bullpen on a 2nd division team. I'm glad I didn't get to watch last night!

I'd use him as an opener.

I didn't see the velocity jump that makes me want to put him into high leverage situations. 

I'd be fine using him in two or three inning stints.

From the little I've seen I'd use him more than Hyde has.

[Beef Supreme]

1 hour ago, Beef Supreme said:

Akin looks like a LOOGY to me. But the was legislated out, for the most part. So, not sure he has a role in MLB.

 

21 minutes ago, GuidoSarducci said:

LOOGY's are pretty much dead with the new three batter rule

Yeah, that's what I wrote.

[eddie83]

4 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

Akin being sent down is just dumb.  
 

 

They were keeping him stretched out down there. I’m sure he will be back. I think the question will be how long of a leash for LeBlanc? 

[makoman]

9 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

I'd use him as an opener.

I didn't see the velocity jump that makes me want to put him into high leverage situations. 

I'd be fine using him in two or three inning stints.

From the little I've seen I'd use him more than Hyde has.

That’s fair. I‘m hoping deception/spin make up for some velocity. I had higher hopes than I was reading I this thread, basically a lefty Hess, and it seemed like some too quick decision making. I’d certainly like to see him get plenty of innings the rest of the year to see more of what we’ve got.