Akin’s season is over, surgery scheduled; Orioles add Krehbiel, Ciuffo, shut down Baumann

BALTIMORE—Left-handed starter Keegan Akin will have core muscle surgery to repair a left adductor strain, the Orioles announced on Friday. Akin was placed on the 10-day injured list, ending his 2021 season.

Akin ends 2021 with a 2-10 record and a 6.63 ERA in 24 games, 17 starts. In his final game, Akin allowed one run on five hits in 5 1/3 innings, walking one and striking out six Tuesday night at Philadelphia.

“He’s piled up a ton of innings and he’s going to have a procedure done in the core region that we want to get ahead of and have him ready in plenty of time for spring training,” manager Brandon Hyde said.

“I thought Keegan had a rocky start but improved over the course of the year. Credit to him is that he’s been pitching with fatigue. The core thing is something that he’s been dealing with for a while now and posting for us. I give him and our medical staff a ton of credit for getting him out there every fifth day for us.

“We felt now was the right time to shut him down and get him ready for next spring, as well. The last couple of times he took the mound I thought the offspeed stuff improved, especially after the first and second inning. I think he learned a lot this year, dealt with some adversity. It was more of a normal year than what he experienced last year.”

In the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Akin was 1-2 with a 4.56 ERA in eight games, six starts.

“He was able to pitch not only against AL East teams but teams outside our division, how hitters are going to react to his stuff and what he needs to improve on going into next year, so there’s a lot of positives from an up-and-down season.”

After Thursday night’s 3-0 victory over the Texas Rangers, the Orioles optioned right-hander Mike Baumann to Triple-A Norfolk, ending his season. Baumann was 1-1 with a 9.90 ERA in four games.

“We felt like after [Thursday] night’s game was the right time to shut him down and happy with the progress he made. Finished the season healthy and get him ready for next season

“It was fun to see him. I liked his presence on the mound … I like his pitch mix.”

The Orioles recalled right-hander Joey Krehbiel from Triple-A Norfolk. He was acquired on waivers from Tampa Bay on Monday. In his major league career, Krehbiel pitched a scoreless inning for the Rays earlier this season.

Catcher Nick Ciuffo, a frequent member of the taxi squad, had his contract purchased.

“We’re very short with left-handed hitters,” Hyde said. “Shoe has been here so much this year and caught a million bullpens and been an ultimate team guy. For him to not be activated ever this whole season, we all felt like the right thing to do was put him on the roster and have him be officially part of the team for a while.”

Notes: Left-hander Paul Fry, who was optioned to Norfolk on August 29^th, has not returned to the Orioles. Fry has a 9.53 ERA in eight games with the Tides. “I follow what our Triple-A guys are doing,” Hyde said. “I want to see him pitch well down there.” … Rightfielder Anthony Santander remains out of the lineup because of a sore left hamstring, but Hyde didn’t rule him out for Friday’s game. … Bruce Zimmermann started and threw four innings for Norfolk on Thursday night. “Good reports, some positive reports,” Hyde said. “He faded a pretty good Charlotte team with some big leaguers in there. You might see him here shortly.” … Chris Ellis has been cleared to start on Saturday. John Means is scheduled for Sunday.”