Rundown of Baltimore Orioles prospects in 2017 Arizona Fall League
By Vivek Shukla
Keegan Akin, LHP
The 2016 second round draft pick has been solid in his first full season at Frederick. Keegan Akin‘s addition to the roster has two potential reasons.
Akin suffered an injury towards the end of the Carolina League and has been out for close to a month. While he has already logged in 100 innings and 111 strikeouts, this will allow for him to get in some more work. After having a rough first two months of April and May with an ERA hovering around six, Akin turned it on by pitching to a 0.90 ERA in five June starts, dropping his ERA to a respectable 3.76.
During the winter meetings, scouts mentioned that while Cody Sedlock possesses the higher ceiling, Akin will be the fastest to move through the system and help the Baltimore Orioles. While he is most likely to start the season at Bowie in 2018, he could join a select list of starters like Kevin Gausman and Dylan Bundy to be jumped from Bowie into the rotation.
Given that Chris Tillman, Jeremy Hellickson, Ubaldo Jimenez, and Wade Miley are all free agents, Akin may trend towards the tougher competition.