Baltimore Orioles: Prospect Arms On Display Against Phillies

The Baltimore Orioles fell to the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday afternoon in Grapefruit League action.

Monday afternoon’s Grapefruit League game between the Baltimore Orioles and Philadelphia Phillies featured many different aspects of what make a spring training baseball game entertaining to watch.

From baserunning blunders to the game ending on an unnecessary throwing error, this game had a bit of everything after a slow start. In the end, the Phillies walked away with an 8-7 win over the Orioles, but not before O’s fans were treated to their first looks at a few highly-regarded pitching prospects.

RHP Alex Cobb worked a scoreless first inning before being removed due to illness. It wasn’t much of a look, but it was still a pleasant sight to see Cobb on the mound after missing essentially all of 2019. He was relieved by RHP David Hess, who threw two shutout innings, striking out three along the way.

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However, it was LHP Keegan Akin and RHP Dean Kremer who garnered the most attention. Akin began his outing with a strikeout, finishing his afternoon by allowing four hits, including a three-run home run, in two innings. It may not have been a pretty outing, but this spring is about getting Akin some quality experience against big league hitters which he can learn from.

With so many veterans in camp, along with multiple Rule 5 options, I don’t see Akin making the major league rotation to start the season, but it won’t be long before we see him in an Orioles uniform.

Kremer, on the other hand, looked pretty good for his first outing of the spring. Kremer recorded two strikeouts, both looking, in his first inning of work before allowing two hits in the bottom of the ninth.

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde was particularly impressed with Kremer’s outing.

Elsewhere around the diamond, both Pat Valaika and Richie Martin chipped in solo home runs, while recently acquired RHP Travis Lakins gave up four earned runs on three hits and one walk. All three hits he allowed were home runs. He recorded just one out before being removed from the game. As far as first impressions go, Lakins didn’t exactly make a strong early case for a 26-man roster spot out of camp.

The Orioles will split up and play two games tomorrow, one against the Tampa Bay Rays and one against the Boston Red Sox. Neither game is scheduled to be televised.