After rough spring, more evidence that Keegan Akin has turned it around

By Steve Melewski

Orioles

June 04, 2021, 7:58pm

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Lefty Keegan Akin has now made starts in both 2020 and 2021, so when he took the mound last night in the series opener against Cleveland it would have been easy to forget that his big league experience is very limited.

As he threw the first pitch last night, he was making just his eighth career major league start. He went 1-2 with a 3.67 ERA in the first seven with 11 walks and 38 strikeouts over 27 innings. He had just 40 2/3 big league innings under his belt.

Akin added five more innings last night, and they were good ones, five scoreless on three singles against the Cleveland Indians. He didn't get a decision but he did get a night of good O's pitching off to a strong start on the mound.

Akin lowered his ERA through 20 innings this year to 3.60 after an 86-pitch outing. He has allowed one run in 9 2/3 innings in two starts in 2021, and Akin now has a 3.09 ERA in his eight major league starts.

Not bad for a pitcher who failed to even make the opening day roster. Akin gave up 15 hits and 10 runs with seven walks in nine innings this spring. His WHIP was 2.44. It was going badly, but credit to him, he went back to the farm and got it back together.

There certainly are ups and downs for young pitchers.

Before Friday's game, I asked manager Brandon Hyde if these young pitchers get evaluated differently by the organization based on experience. Is there one level of evaluation after five or so starts, for instance, and another taking more into account as the starts stack up and they have 50 or 100 or more big league innings of experience?

"I'm not putting a number on it, I just want to get him experience," said Hyde of Akin. "We want to see him. I think that Keegan is making big strides. Made strides since last year with his off-speed stuff. I think his fastball command has improved. Just want to see continual improvement and development with getting comfortable in the big leagues.

"So, we are going to re-evaluate every once in a while, but right now it's about putting him on the mound in his turn and getting this valuable major league experience."

That valuable experience included five scoreless innings last night. His pitch count was 65 through three innings, but then he rolled through the fourth on 12 pitches and the fifth on nine.

"I'm happy where I'm at," Akin said. "Obviously, I was awful, in my eyes, and I think everybody else's eyes, as well (in spring). It was just a little bit extra motivation to go down there and work my butt off and try to get back up here. Ultimate goal to be in the rotation, and here I am. Just got to take it day by day and outing by outing and go from there."

Akin's outing continued a mini run of solid O's starting pitching. Their starters have allowed one, one, two, one and zero runs over the last five games for a 1.88 ERA in that span.

Ryan Mountcastle's two-run homer in the seventh put the Orioles ahead last night. It was his first career home run on a 1-2 pitch. Over his last three games, Mountcastle is 5-for-12 with a double, two homers and six RBIs. Over his past 10 games, he is batting .314 (11-for-35) with two doubles, a triple, four home runs and 11 RBIs.

The Orioles improved to 4-26 when they get out-hit by their opponent, as they were last night, 8-6.

The club ended an eight-game losing streak in series-opening games, winning their first such game since May 3 at Seattle.

Three runs are the fewest the O's have scored in a win this season, and they've now done that three times.

On the farm: Double-A Bowie now has both an eight-game win streak and the best record among all 120 teams in affiliated minor league baseball. The Baysox beat Hartford 6-2 last night and improved to 21-5 (.840). Triple-A Nashville, a Milwaukee affiliate, lost to fall to 21-6 (.778).

The Baysox got a two-run double from Robert Neustrom during a six-run fourth inning. In his Double-A debut, right-hander Blaine Knight allowed seven hits and two runs over six innings. Bowie, which has won 10 of 11 games, is now 11-4 on the road.

High Single-A Aberdeen beat Hickory 4-3 to improve to 18-7. Low Single-A Delmarva lost 5-2 at Fredericksburg and Triple-A Norfolk's game at Durham was postponed.