Going back to Orioles' bullpen and Akin's recent struggles

The Orioles kept their bullpen intact through the off-day that leads into tonight’s series opener against the Rays and begins a stretch of 29 games in 30 days.

They didn’t option anyone. They didn’t make a trade or a waiver claim.

But the day is still young.

The Orioles keep shuffling relievers. They acquired Thyago Vieira from the Brewers Saturday and optioned left-hander Nick Vespi two days later. Jonathan Heasley was recalled May 23 and optioned the next day to make room for Dillon Tate.

Mike Baumann was designated for assignment on May 18 and later traded to the Mariners for Triple-A catcher Blake Hunt.

The bullpen ERA increased to 3.85 before Wednesday night’s series finale against the Red Sox, lowering the Orioles to 14^th in the majors. Danny Coulombe and Tate each tossed a scoreless inning in a 6-1 win, leaving the ERA at 3.81 and the Orioles 15^th.

Left-hander Keegan Akin is scuffling, with seven runs, six hits and four walks packed into his last three appearances spanning five innings. His ERA has jumped from 2.66 on May 20 to 4.62.

With the Orioles down 5-3 Tuesday night, Akin allowed three runs with two hits and a walk in the ninth. Rob Refsnyder homered.

The left-on-left matchups stopped working in his favor. They were batting .167 with a .508 OPS against Akin before Saturday’s game in Chicago, when he followed starter Albert Suárez’s four scoreless innings by surrendering three runs in the fifth. Andrew Benintendi walked, Nicky Lopez singled and Gavin Sheets tripled with the bases loaded – each player swinging from the left side.

Benintendi walked again with two outs in the sixth, Lopez singled and Tate entered the game.

Akin strung together six scoreless appearances in a row before serving up a tie-breaking, two-run homer to left-handed hitting Nolan Gorman in the resumption of the suspended game in St. Louis.

In the ninth inning Wednesday, left-handed hitting David Hamilton led off with a single to ignite a rally that put the game out of reach.

Asked about Akin in Chicago, Hyde said, "That was a struggle. That's unfortunate. That's twice now he's missed middle-middle with lefties in big spots and that can't happen at the major league level."

Following the Red Sox loss, Hyde said, "He got hit. Walked the No. 9 hitter. Just didn't have his command tonight."

Hyde has witnessed the extremes with Akin. He knows how good the former second-round pick can be, including the most recent spring training. Everyone saw it.

Akin had to win a job after missing most of the 2023 season with a back injury and responded by allowing one run and striking out eight batters in eight innings. Hyde kept praising him for having perhaps the best stuff in camp. He wasn’t wrong.

“For me, it’s just some bad misses,” Hyde said on Wednesday. “In St. Louis, the homer to Gorman was … it’s an 11 o’clock game, he comes in right away and just misses the fastball in really the only spot that Gorman can hurt him on for a homer. And then Chicago he struggled a little bit. And (Wednesday) night for me, when he’s walking guys, something is not right. Doesn’t have his best stuff that night.

“When he’s left-on-left and he’s leaving sliders in the middle part of the plate in put-away counts or not getting offers, like Hamilton was kind of waiting him out. He couldn’t put him away.

“Keegan’s strength honestly is his fastball. When it’s mid-90s and it’s got a ton of life and hop with the kind of short arm stroke he has, he gets it by guys. Just the last few times hasn’t been able to kind of execute.”

* Here are the matchups for the three-game series against the Rays:

Friday: RHP Albert Suárez (2-0, 1.53 ERA) vs. RHP Aaron Civale (2-4, 5.72 ERA)
Saturday: RHP Kyle Bradish 1-0, 1.75 ERA). vs. RHP Taj Bradley (1-2, 3.13 ERA)
Sunday: LHP Cole Irvin (5-2, 2.84 ERA) vs. RHP Zack Littell (2-3, 3.03 ERA)