Notes on pitching prospects Garcia, Scott, Sedlock and Akin

I filed a blog entry last week with Orioles director of player development Brian Graham offering his opinion of Jason Garcia's season at Double-A Bowie.

Now let's hear from Baysox pitching coach Alan Mills.

"He's a talented individual," Mills said of Garcia, the former Rule 5 pick who went 6-10 with a 4.73 ERA and 1.544 WHIP in 24 starts.

"Kind of started slow, but he got better as the year went on. At the beginning of the year, he had some command issues, and he worked some things out with his delivery and he just got better. He controlled his fastball better, his slider was probably his best secondary pitch and by the end of the year his changeup got a lot better.

"He just improved as the year went on. Nothing that I did. It was just more of him, I guess, getting more comfortable with himself. Maybe in the spring he was putting a lot of pressure on himself or whatever, but as the year moved on he got a lot better."

Left-hander Tanner Scott split his season between Single-A Frederick and Bowie, going a combined 5-4 with a 4.76 ERA and 1.508 WHIP in 64 1/3 relief innings. His fastball touches 100 mph and he averaged 11.3 strikeouts per nine innings, but he also averaged eight walks.

Mills said Scott also started slow with Bowie, where he made 14 appearances, but got better as the season progressed.

"Just a matter of him getting more comfortable with his delivery and getting a more consistent release point. And once he does that, his command will get a lot better," Mills said.

"He throws close to 100 mph and that's hard to find. His breaking ball is in the process of getting a lot better. He's kind of feeling his way through. I've been there. I didn't throw that hard, but I've been in that situation where I couldn't throw the ball where I wanted to. But it's just a matter of once he gets more comfortable with his delivery, he'll find the strike zone."

Graham said Scott, 22, made "huge strides" this year. Perhaps he can lengthen them again in the Arizona Fall League.

"Sometimes, I think the expectations are really high and if you look at how well he pitched, how well he did, he made huge strides this year," Graham said. "I'm really pleased with how he pitched this year - his control/command and the ability to use his breaking ball, as well."

Scott is starting for the Peoria Javelinas, though he's going to remain a reliever in the minors.

"The idea is he's pitching against really good competition and he's being able to have a bullpen in between his outings and that's all part of the development process," Graham said.

Graham said it's too early to determine where pitchers Cody Sedlock and Keegan Akin, the top two picks in the 2016 draft, will be assigned next season.

Sedlock, the 27th overall pick out of the University of Illinois, posted a 3.00 ERA in nine starts at short-season Single-A Aberdeen. He allowed only one home run in 27 innings, but he also averaged 4.3 walks.

Akin, the second-rounder out of Western Michigan University, posted a 1.04 ERA and 0.846 WHIP in nine starts over 26 innings. He averaged 2.4 walks and 10 strikeouts.

Both pitchers received positive grades in the fall instructional league.

"Akin was probably the most impressive and Sedlock was really good," Graham said.

"Akin throws strikes. He throws three pitches for strikes. He's down in the strike zone, he works quick, he has no fear. He was very impressive. We saw better velocity in the instructional league than we did during the season."

Akin was throwing his fastball, slider and changeup for strikes.

"All three good pitches, and he commanded the baseball well," Graham said. "It was good. He was 93-94 mph in instructional league."

Having more giddy-up on his fastball this late in the year?

"A little bit unusual," Graham said, "but it was really good to see, obviously."