One example of O's drafting a college pitcher and making him better

It was a question that came up during the recent MLB Draft. Why do the O’s draft some college pitchers with modest stats? What do they see here?

Said O’s vice president of player development and domestic scouting Matt Blood: “It’s usually a combination of raw stuff, physical capacity, the athleticism, the way they move and then performance. It’s some sort of combination of those things. We have people that feel with this adjustment or that adjustment or this improvement or this other thing, that they will be better than maybe they have been in the past. It’s a combination of all those things.”

Pitching well right now at High-A Aberdeen we have an example of a pitcher working to improve to be better than he ever has been.

For 22-year-old right-hander Jackson Baumeister, that improvement may be coming with the development of his third or fourth pitch, his changeup.

He already throws his fastball and curveball often and is confident in those solid offerings, but he needs more pitches than those two.

Baumeister said he did not heavily use data or analytics in college but does now with the Orioles. He used the development of his changeup as an example. The O’s showed him a new grip last fall and he took that into his winter work, getting data from the facility he worked at in Jacksonville, Fla. to provide instant feedback on how the pitch was doing and moving.

He is starting to use it more this season.

And now a pitcher had an ERA of 5.60 at Florida State in 2022 and 5.09 in 2023 for the Seminoles, is 1-3 with a 3.06 ERA for Aberdeen. He has a 1.358 WHIP, a 5.5 walk rate and 11.6 K rate.

But in his last three starts, where his ERA is 2.31, he has walked only four and fanned 19 over 11 2/3 innings.

With a fastball that sits mostly 93, 94 mph and touches 96 and 97, Baumeister is working to develop consistency and confidence in his last two pitches, the change and slider, to match his first two.

That may be the difference in how far he can go and if the highest drafted pitcher in the Mike Elias era (No. 63 overall in 2023) can make the big leagues. And maybe do well when he arrives.

"They give me a new changeup grip I think it was in October of the offseason. And basically said these are the (data) numbers we are looking for, so you want this amount of vertical break, you want to throw it right around this speed. So go have fun with it in the offseason,” said Baumeister the O’s No. 17 prospect by both Baseball America and MLBPipeline.com.

“Then showed back up in spring training (last March) and they took a look at it. They use the Edgertronic (high speed) cameras to see how it's coming off the hand. Really just seeing every angle you can get and if the results are not exactly what you are looking for, you can make an adjustment with the grip or how you are throwing it, whatever it may be. And ultimately, it's kind of trial and error until you find that sweet spot, where the numbers need to be. Now you execute it and it’s a good pitch.”

The winter work with the pitch began at that facility in Jacksonville, Fla. where his workout partners included current Oriole Tyler Wells and former Oriole Mike Baumann. 

The changeup was first showing signs of getting better over the winter.

“The changeup was really bad for me in college, only worked a handful of times. But the Orioles cleaned it up really nicely and it’s been really good for me recently.”

Baumeister said the improvement of that pitch – although still a bit of a work in progress – is probably his biggest gain since draft day.

“I’d say so. The slider is definitely getting better too. It’s getting there. It’s not quite there yet but the changeup has been really, really good the last couple of weeks. Been getting a lot more consistent throwing it to righties and lefties. Trying to just kind of establish that as kind of a cornerstone of the repertoire," he said. 

This is the first time Baumeister has used data and analytics for specific pitch development. It’s making him a more complete pitcher.

“It’s really exciting. It is something I’ve been searching for, getting that third or fourth pitch developed. Big league pitchers have that third and fourth pitch. So seeing that process kind of work early in my career is super exciting and hopefully that leads to more success in the future," he said.