Baltimore Orioles: Another Under The Radar Prospect, LHP Kevin Magee

The Baltimore Orioles have several pitching prospects who are receiving well-deserved accolades and attention.  The organization has others who, despite solid performances, fly under the radar.

In the 9th round of the 2018 MLB Draft (265th overall), the Baltimore Orioles selected left-handed pitcher Kevin Magee, out of St. John’s University.  In his four years pitching for the Red Storm, Magee compiled a 14-12 record over 48 games, (36 starts) and 178 innings pitched.  Magee struck out 176 batters and walked 49 during his time there.  As a senior, he was named a second-team All Big-East pitcher.

As with most current draftees, Magee was sent to the Gulf Coast League (Rookie) where he made two appearances for a total of 2.1 innings before being moved to Aberdeen (A-Short) for the remainder of the 2018 season.

Magee made three starts and appeared in 13 games in total for the Ironbirds in 2018.  Over a span of 35.2 innings, he compiled a 3-1 record with a 1.51 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP.  Magee held New York-Penn League batters to a .206 batting average while striking out 32 and walking nine.

The numbers Magee produced were impressive, especially when they are viewed in the context of the other Ironbirds’ pitchers.  His three wins were good for fourth among the 14 pitchers who won games for the Ironbirds, his ERA ranked fourth among starting pitchers, and his innings pitched were sixth most on the team.

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Magee utilizes a low 90-mph fastball and has a nasty changeup that makes that fastball more effective.  He used that arsenal to achieve a strikeout/9 rate of 8.07 and a strikeout to walk ratio of 3.56.  He struck out slightly more than 23% of the batters he faced while conversely, walking less than 7% of the batters faced.

What I especially like about Magee’s pitching is an attribute that plays well at Oriole Park at Camden Yards: he generated ground balls 48.9% of the time a batter put a ball in play and his ground out to fly out ratio was a decent 1.26.  Ground balls are a good thing for any pitcher, especially a Baltimore Orioles pitcher.

When Magee allowed a batter to reach base he generally left them there, stranding runners at an 83.3% rate.  As expected, he was harder on left-handed batters than he was on right-handers limiting them to a .150 average, compared to a .233 average against righties.  He also was just as stingy with runners in scoring position as he held batters to a .125 batting average in those situations.

I realize this is a small sample size but a solid pitching performance such as the one Magee produced this past season warrants more attention.  Hopefully, this is a sign of things to come from this 6’2″, 210 lb. southpaw.  Keep an eye on this big, athletic, left-handed prospect Orioles fans; I think you will hear much more about him in the not too distant future.