SeaWolves' Keith comes to a four-gone conclusion

Up until high school, Colt Keith was supposed to be a wrestler. His dad wrestled in college and Keith was well on his way to following in his father's footsteps.

If baseball was Keith’s second sport, it’s hard to imagine how dominant he must have been at wrestling.

The No. 82 prospect in baseball per MLB Pipeline has been mashing at Double-A Erie all season and he continued that dominance on Friday night.

In the SeaWolves' 5-0 win over the Harrisburg Senators, Keith started the scoring with his 14th homer of the year. Not only did the jack continue the No. 2 Tigers prospect’s torrid season, but it also marked his fourth game in a row with a long ball.

The homer came in the third inning off No. 12 Nationals prospect Cole Henry. With two on and nobody out, Keith roped a fastball into the bullpen in right field and gave Erie a 3-0 lead.

The dinger extended the 21-year-old's hit streak to 10 games and plated No. 28 Tigers prospect Gage Workman and infielder Trei Cruz.

Keith chose baseball over wrestling because of a growth spurt he had in high school. Now 6-foot-2 and beyond his listed weight of 211 pounds, he shot up four inches and put on about 45 pounds between eighth grade and his sophomore year.

“I started throwing hard off the mound and I started hitting balls further,” Keith said. “I went the right route it’s safe to say -- I think.”

Earlier in the season, Keith became the first player to record a 6-for-6 cycle with multiple homers. He's been putting on a nightly hitting clinic for Erie and he's now touting a 1.016 OPS, so yeah, it seems pretty safe to say he made the right choice.

The Mississippi native’s home run barrage started on June 9 and June 10 in Bowie. In each of those games against the Baysox, Keith collected two hits, hitting a tater and adding an additional knock for good measure.

In his next appearance on June 15, it was blast off time again. Keith took No. 11 Nationals prospect Jackson Rutledge yard and finished the night 2-for-5 after adding a single in the eighth.

Now, after a dominant stretch of games, Keith has a slash line of .332/.402/.614. The success is a continuation of Keith’s performance in High-A last season when he slashed .301/.370/.544. At this rate, he is making his case to continue raking at the next level.