The work to develop a young pitcher: Jackson Baumeister excelling at Aberdeen

ABERDEEN, Md. - In the last two MLB Drafts, the Orioles have made 40 combined selections and 25 of them have been pitchers. But none were taken higher up the board than last year’s selection of Florida State right-hander Jackson Baumeister with the No. 63 overall pick.

He is the highest drafted pitcher taken by O's executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias since his initial O's draft in 2019.

Baumeister, 21, was selected with a Competitive Balance Round B pick, selections that were made just ahead of the third round of the draft.

After two seasons on the Seminoles staff, the Orioles took Baumeister as a draft-eligible sophomore. He did not pitch after that 2023 draft. but he has made his pro debut this year at High-A Aberdeen and is having a solid first season.

Ranked as the Orioles' No. 11 prospect by Baseball America and No. 18 via MLBPipeline.com, he is 1-2 with a 2.60 ERA. In 14 games over 55 1/3 innings he has allowed 37 hits and no homers with 35 walks and 65 strikeouts. He has a .192 average against and 1.30 WHIP for the IronBirds.

“Been nice to get my feet wet and get to better know the organization this year,” he said in a recent interview at Ripken Stadium. “Like you kind of got the plan for what they wanted to do in spring training and before that and it’s really cool to see how well they have executed that and stuck to that plan.”

That plan, as it is with many pitching prospects organization-wide this year, has included for him a limited pitch count each outing of about 70 and he has not thrown past a five innings outing.

“I’ve been told I have a set pitch count each time I go out and will never go past that and a set innings count for the year, and I never go past five innings every outing. It is nice to know they are on your side and want to protect you and make sure you are getting better while also keeping you healthy. I think they are one of the few organizations that prioritize that,” Baumeister said.

Baumeister has used a heavy reliance on two pitches – his fastball and curveball – while also working to better develop his changeup and hard slider.

“It is a heathy usage of fastball, curveball,” he said, estimating he uses his four-seamer about 60 percent and curve 20 to 25 percent. “Those have been my best two pitches since high school basically. But still trying to get the reps in with the changeup and the slider as well as developing those in the off days during bullpens and stuff.”

Does he decide on his pitch mix or is their organization input?

“It is a combination of my preferences as well as theirs,” he said. “I think they agree the fastball is my best pitch by far. So, kind of working off of that has been the plan the entire season. As well as sticking to the curveball. That is a big pitch for me, good with two strikes or anytime in the count.”

Baumeister said he did not heavily use data or analytics in college but does now. 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.

“There is definitely more (analytics) here. This is really the first time in my life it’s been used to develop pitches. Like look at the numbers on your slider and then using live data and feedback and being able to adjust pitch-by-pitch in bullpens and really just get a certain pitch exactly the way you want it. That is brand new to me. Been really cool to try and tinker with pitches and get them hopefully to a big league level,” he said.

Baumeister has allowed zero or one run in half of his 14 starts. His fastball is sitting mostly 93, 94 mph and touches 96 and 97.

Baumeister was a catcher and pitcher in high school, finally choosing to pitch only his senior year. He had a strong commitment to Florida State since the eighth grade. And even though he may have been a pretty high pick in the 2021 draft he put out the word he wanted to go to college and was not selected then.

Baseball America currently ranks him as the O’s fourth-highest rated pitcher behind Chayce McDermott (No. 7), Cade Povich (No. 8) and Seth Johnson (No. 9).

Expected to make his next start tonight for the IronBirds, a move to Double-A could be coming in the second half for Baumeister.

“I am trying to not pay too much attention to that. Obviously I would love to move up. Love to be in the big leagues right now. The Orioles have a plan for me. I don’t know that plan but for me I just need to focus on what I can control and right now that is working on developing my pitches, working on throwing more strikes, making sure I am healthy. Getting moved up would be exciting but right now just trying to work on myself and how my outings are going,” he said.

For this young pitcher, it has been less than a full year since he was taken by the Orioles out of FSU. So far, so great, he says.

“I couldn’t be happier with the Orioles. It’s a great group of guys I am with now. But the development and feedback I’ve gotten and the support from the entire organization has been as much as I could ask for. It’s really been encouraging,” Baumeister said.