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Orioles' Key Reliever Undergoes Season-Ending Surgery
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- Orioles' Key Reliever Undergoes Season-Ending Surgery
The Baltimore Orioles ' bullpen was dealt a crushing blow on Wednesday.
The team announced that left-handed reliever Keegan Akin underwent Tommy John surgery, with Dr. Keith Meister performing the operation. Akin, 31, was initially placed on the 15-day injured list on June 29 with left elbow discomfort before being transferred to the 60-day IL on Monday.
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Akin will not only miss the rest of the 2026 season, but he may be out for the entire 2027 season as well due to the lengthy rehab needed to recover from the procedure. The southpaw will finish 2026 with a 5.68 ERA, 4.36 FIP , 1.50 WHIP and 17 strikeouts against nine walks in 25.1 innings pitched.
Despite Akin's struggles over the past two seasons, this is a massive loss for Baltimore due to their lack of other left-handed relievers; Grant Wolfram is currently the only southpaw in the Orioles' bullpen. The unit currently ranks 18th in MLB with a 4.23 ERA , although this is an improvement compared to 2025, when Baltimore relievers posted the sixth-worst ERA in the majors at 4.57 .
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Akin has spent his entire seven-year career with the Orioles to this point, and became an integral part of their bullpen after struggling as a starting pitcher in his first two seasons. From 2022 to 2024, the lefty appeared in 135 games and registered a 3.72 ERA and 3.25 FIP across 184.0 innings, striking out 26.7% of batters with just a 6.1% walk rate.
2024 was unquestionably the best season of Akin's career as he emerged into an extremely dependable high-leverage arm. In 66 games and 78.2 frames, he struck out 97 batters and walked just 19 while posting a 3.32 ERA, 2.99 FIP and 0.94 WHIP.
Unfortunately, both 2025 and 2026 were a significant step backwards. In 2025, Akin recorded -0.5 fWAR despite a seemingly decent ERA of 3.41; he had a 4.94 FIP, struck out only 59 batters and issued an alarming 33 walks in 63.1 innings while being charged with six blown saves.
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This year, Akin missed most of April with a groin strain and allowed 15 runs over his first 12 appearances. He showed improvement by allowing just three runs (only one of which was earned) in his next 12 appearances , but reported elbow soreness after his outing on June 27.
Sadly, that appearance on June 27 could be Akin's last game in an Orioles uniform. He was set to become a free agent after this season, but whoever chooses to sign him in this coming winter will likely not get the opportunity to see him in action until 2028.
This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on Jul 16, 2026, where it first appeared in the MLB section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
