Keegan Akin 2021

[orioles22]

I'm starting to wonder what's going on in Norfolk. Akin was great until he got there. I'm not sure if the same people are there, but it seems like it's been a while since we've had a good starting pitcher in AAA ball.

[Three Run Homer]

This has to be Akin's last major league start for a while, right?  His ERA over his last 7 appearances is over 11.  

Please, someone, make it stop.

[rudyrooster]

52 minutes ago, Three Run Homer said:

This has to be Akin's last major league start for a while, right?  His ERA over his last 7 appearances is over 11.  

Please, someone, make it stop.

As he was climbing his way thru the minor leagues I thought Aiken could be a decent big league pitcher.  Not a Cy Young winner, not an ace of the staff, but at the least a "serviceable " starter.  What the hell has happened to our first wave of "the Cavalry"?  Aiken, Kramer, and Lowther have been huge disappointments this season.  

 

Edited July 17, 2021 by rudyrooster
Punctuation

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

More like: Keegan Aching 2021. 

[Il BuonO]

1 hour ago, rudyrooster said:

What the hell has happened to our first wave of "the Cavalry"?  Aiken, Kramer, and Lowther have been huge disappointments this season.  

More like mall cops than cavalry.

[spiritof66]

3 hours ago, Three Run Homer said:

This has to be Akin's last major league start for a while, right?  His ERA over his last 7 appearances is over 11.  

Please, someone, make it stop.

Someone who's in charge would have to care about improving the team in order to have an incentive to make it stop,

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

1 hour ago, Il BuonO said:

More like mall cops than cavalry.

There's probably a mall cop or two that could pitch better.

[wildcard]

7 hours ago, rudyrooster said:

As he was climbing his way thru the minor leagues I thought Aiken could be a decent big league pitcher.  Not a Cy Young winner, not an ace of the staff, but at the least a "serviceable " starter.  What the hell has happened to our first wave of "the Cavalry"?  Aiken, Kramer, and Lowther have been huge disappointments this season.  

 

Just growing pains IMO.   I would not give up on Akin, Kremer or Lowther.  They may end up to be relievers because there will be better options in Means, Grayson, DL, Tyler Wells, Zimmermann and Bradish.  It will all play out next season.

[Aristotelian]

2 hours ago, wildcard said:

Just growing pains IMO.   I would not give up on Akin, Kremer or Lowther.  They may end up to be relievers because there will be better options in Means, Grayson, DL, Tyler Wells, Zimmermann and Bradish.  It will all play out next season.

I am pretty close to giving up on Akin. I am not really seeing anything in his stuff or resume that gives me hope. 4.73 ERA at Norfolk with 4.9 BB/9. Not great at Frederick. Did have good numbers at Bowie but that appears to be the outlier. I just don't see how that plays out into a solid MLB pitcher.

[interloper]

Hyde basically put Akin/Sevvy on blast in the post game, saying that some of the pitch selection "didn't make sense". JMO but I've really gotten the impression that Hyde doesn't really like Akin too much. He did not hold back last night.

[7Mo]

2 hours ago, wildcard said:

Just growing pains IMO.   I would not give up on Akin, Kremer or Lowther.  They may end up to be relievers because there will be better options in Means, Grayson, DL, Tyler Wells, Zimmermann and Bradish.  It will all play out next season.

Baumann seems to be pitching his way back into that group too. 

[interloper]

12 minutes ago, interloper said:

Hyde basically put Akin/Sevvy on blast in the post game, saying that some of the pitch selection "didn't make sense". JMO but I've really gotten the impression that Hyde doesn't really like Akin too much. He did not hold back last night.

Here's the video of Hyde.

https://youtu.be/C1bpa1eA3tg

[Camden_yardbird]

1 hour ago, Aristotelian said:

I am pretty close to giving up on Akin. I am not really seeing anything in his stuff or resume that gives me hope. 4.73 ERA at Norfolk with 4.9 BB/9. Not great at Frederick. Did have good numbers at Bowie but that appears to be the outlier. I just don't see how that plays out into a solid MLB pitcher.

Go look at his fastball placement on baseball savant.  The heat map looks more like a hitters hot zones than what a pitchers FB placement should be.

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/keegan-akin-669211?stats=statcast-r-pitching-mlb

 

[VickRoznovsky]

At the game last night, he just didn't look comfortable out there.  I'm not the brightest bulb in the box but to a few of us watching it appeared he was trying to find a consistent delivery that gave him some more control.  Totally stupid so please don't knock me too hard but in the 2nd it seemed pretty obvious when he was trying to get a little extra on the four seamer - his leg kick was higher and more torqued than on the slider and change.  He only had a few missed bats in two innings, including that ridiculous Soler golf swing =).  I am not sure Soler and Dozier have shared a multi-hit game this year =).  I want the best for Keegan and I am sure it is tough on him not finding success; I hope he gets a chance to drop back to Norfolk and find some consistent comfort and control.  

[Three Run Homer]

8 hours ago, wildcard said:

Just growing pains IMO.   I would not give up on Akin, Kremer or Lowther.  They may end up to be relievers because there will be better options in Means, Grayson, DL, Tyler Wells, Zimmermann and Bradish.  It will all play out next season.

I won't give up on them yet either, but it's clear that they were rushed.  None of these pitchers have had any sustained success at AAA.  Akin had a 4.73 ERA at Norfolk in 2019.  Kremer's ERAs at Norfolk have been 8.84 in 2019 and 6.23 in 2021.  Lowther had no experience at Norfolk until this year, and his ERA there is 6.93.  Alex Wells has a 4.19 ERA at Norfolk this year, so he's arguably more ready for a shot, but even then you'd like someone to have more success at AAA before calling him up.  Kevin Smith (3.63 ERA in 4 starts) may be more deserving than Wells, although let's see if he can sustain his performance for a few more starts.  

I think the jump from AA to AAA is especially hard on pitchers due to the differences in the baseball as well as talent level.  We can't assume that someone is almost ready for the majors just because they are having success at Bowie.  Bradish absolutely dominated at Bowie but he is struggling now at Norfolk, while Baumann, GrayRod and DL Hall haven't even seen Norfolk yet. 

The O's shouldn't ticket any of these guys for a slot in the major league rotation next year--let them prove that they can succeed at Norfolk first, and sign some placeholders over the offseason so that we don't have to rush anyone.