Baltimore Orioles: Zac Lowther And Cody Sedlock- When Good Isn’t Enough

Baltimore Orioles pitching prospects Zac Lowther and Cody Sedlock each had an exceptional month of May.  Their outstanding performance, however, fell just a bit short.

The Baltimore Orioles saw quite a few outstanding pitching performances down on the farm during the month of May.  Two, in particular, are worth highlighting; Bowie Baysox (AA) LHP Zac Lowther and Frederick Keys (A-Adv.) RHP Cody Sedlock both were simply dominant.

Lowther, the Orioles 2017 second-round draft pick and currently the #8 ranked prospect by MLB Pipeline, made five starts during the month of May.  Over a span of 30.0 total innings, he allowed two earned runs on 21 hits (no home runs),  walked eight and struck out 29.  He finished the month with a 3-1 record, an ERA of 0.60 and a WHIP of 0.97 while limiting Eastern League hitters to a .198 batting average.

Both of those earned runs allowed came In his lone loss, to the Altoona Curve (Pittsburgh Pirates affiliate) on May 7th. The quality start he made that night (6.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 2 ER) was wasted when the Baysox offense was held to just two runs.  Lowther’s other four starts during the month of May were scoreless affairs.  In fact, the 23 year-old southpaw finished the month with a 22.1 inning scoreless streak.

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Sedlock, the Orioles first-round draft pick in 2016, made four starts for the Keys in May and finished with a 2-0 record.  He allowed eight hits and one run over a span of 22.0 innings while walking five and striking out 21.  Carolina League batters hit a paltry .111 off Sedlock, who finished the month with a 0.41 ERA and 0.59 WHIP.

Sedlock’s two wins were both quality starts while both of the no-decisions were scoreless ties when he was removed.  These performances are significant in that Sedlock has lost time over the past three seasons due to injury.

These two performances, while outstanding, were edged slightly by the May performance of the Orioles 2018 4th round draft pick Drew Rom.  Rom, the Orioles #27 ranked prospect, finished the month with a 3-0 record, 0.35 ERA and 0.78 WHIP  over five starts for the Delmarva Shorebirds (A-Low).  Rom edged out Lowther and Sedlock for the honor of Minor League Pitcher of the Month for the month of May.

It is hard to imagine one pitcher having a sub-1.00 ERA during a month, much less three pitchers doing so.  Baltimore Orioles pitching prospects had an extraordinary month on the mound and if it continues, the future in Baltimore will be bright.

It is certainly not a bad thing to have performances like Lowther and Sedlock produced and call them not quite good enough.