Henry Owens (left-handed pitcher)

Henry Cole Owens (born July 21, 1992) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He previously played for the Boston Red Sox.

Henry Owens
Free agent
Pitcher
Born: (1992-07-21) July 21, 1992
Orange, California
Bats: Left Throws: Left
MLB debut
August 4, 2015, for the Boston Red Sox
MLB statistics
(through 2016 season)
Win–loss record4–6
Earned run average5.19
Strikeouts71
Teams

Amateur career

Owens attended Edison High School in Huntington Beach, California.[1] He earned the Cal-Hi Sports Mr. Baseball State Player of the Year Award in 2011, after posting a 12–1 record with a 1.15 earned run average (ERA) and three saves, while striking out 140 batters in 91⅔ innings of work.[1] He also was named a 2011 Louisville Slugger High School All-American and earned 2011 Sunset League Pitcher of the Year honors for the two consecutive years.[1]

Professional career

Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox selected Owens in the first round (36th overall) of the 2011 MLB Draft.[1] He signed with them on August 15, 2011[1] for a $1,500,000 signing bonus.[2] Owens made his professional debut in 2012 with the Greenville Drive of the Class A South Atlantic League (SAL), sporting a 12–5 record and a 4.87 ERA in 23 games, including 130 strikeouts and 47 walks in 101⅔ innings.[3] In addition, he finished fourth in the SAL for the most strikeouts, while tying for fourth in wins.[1]

Entering 2013, Owens was ranked as the eighth best prospect in the Red Sox organization and ranked 77th in the MLB.com Top 100 Prospects list.[4] He promoted to the Salem Red Sox of the Class A-Advanced Carolina League on April 2.[1] On July 17, he struck out a season-high tying 10 in six innings, while combining with two other pitchers to deliver the first no-hitter in franchise history in a 6–0 win over the Frederick Keys.[5] Overall, he posted an 8–5 record and a 2.92 ERA over 20 starts for Salem,[3] including a hitless streak of 19⅓ innings, gaining a promotion to the Portland Sea Dogs of the Class AA Eastern League on August 1.[6]

With the Sea Dogs, Owens went 3–1 with a 1.78 ERA, striking out 46 in just 30⅓ innings over six starts.[3] He was a Carolina League Mid-Season All-Star,[7] as well as SoxProspects.com's 2013 Pitcher of the Year.[8] Additionally, he made the Baseball America Minor League All-Star Team.[8] Owens started the 2014 season by pitching a rain-shortened six-inning no-hitter for the Sea Dogs.[9] Making 20 starts in Portland, Owens compiled a record of 14–4 with 3 complete games in 121 innings, with 126 strikeouts and an earned run average of 2.60.[3] He was promoted to the Pawtucket Red Sox of the Class AAA International League on August 2, 2014.[10] He was a mid-season and post-season All-Star with Portland as well as Eastern League Pitcher of the Year.[1] Owens was invited to Spring Training with the Red Sox in 2015[1] but began the season with Pawtucket.[11] He was 3–8 with a 3.16 ERA in 21 AAA starts.[3]

The Red Sox promoted Owens to the major leagues on August 4.[12] He made his debut by striking out the first batter he faced in the game, Jacoby Ellsbury.[13] and went on to allow three runs in five innings to take the loss against the New York Yankees.[13] He collected his first MLB win in his second start on August 9 against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park, allowing one run through five innings.[14] He made 11 starts in 2015, with a 4–4 record and 4.57 ERA.[15] He spent most of the 2016 season with Pawtucket, where he was 10–7 with a 3.92 ERA in 24 starts[3] but he also made five starts for the Red Sox in the majors, and was 0–2 with a 6.95 ERA in those appearances.[15]

In 2017, Owens battled with his command and spent the entire season in the minors,[16] split between Pawtucket (14 starts) and Portland (12 starts) and was a combined 7–11 with a 4.21 ERA.[3] Owens was removed from the Red Sox 40-man roster on December 5, 2017 and placed on waivers.[17]

Arizona Diamondbacks

On December 8, 2017, Owens was claimed off waivers by the Arizona Diamondbacks[18]

Los Angeles Dodgers

On December 22, he was claimed again, this time by the Los Angeles Dodgers.[19] Owens was designated for assignment on May 18, 2018, after having spent the first two months of the season on the minor league disabled list.[20] He was released that same day.[21]

Second stint with Diamondbacks

On June 1, 2018, Owens signed a minor league deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks. He was released by the organization on March 25, 2019.

Kansas City T-Bones

On June 11, 2019, Owens signed with the Kansas City T-Bones of the independent American Association.

Sugar Land Skeeters

On March 16, 2020, Owens was traded to the Sugar Land Skeeters of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball in exchange for Chuck Taylor.

Pitching style

Owens's pitching arsenal features a 88–91 miles per hour (142–146 km/h) fastball and a 76–79 miles per hour (122–127 km/h) changeup, which he combines with a slow curveball (68–73 miles per hour (109–117 km/h)) and an occasional slider.[22]

References
  1. "MiLB.com – Henry Owens profile". milb.com.
  2. "Henry Owens". Baseball Cube. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  3. "Henry Owens Minor & Fall League Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 27, 2016.
  4. "MLB.com – 2013 Top 100 Prospects list". MLB.com. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  5. Raymond, Jonathan (July 17, 2013). "Owens leads Salem to no-hitter". Milb.com. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
  6. Staff Reports (August 1, 2013). "Sea Dogs to get top pitching prospect Henry Owens". Portland Press Herald. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  7. Frazer, Ian and Michael Lananna (June 11, 2013). "CALIFORNIA-CAROLINA LEAGUE ALL-STAR GAME ROSTERS". Baseball America. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  8. "Henry Owens". Soxprospects.com. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  9. Pouliot, Matthew (April 3, 2014). "Red Sox prospect Henry Owens tosses six-inning no-hitter – HardballTalk". nbcsports.com. Retrieved August 2, 2015.
  10. McDonald, Joe (August 1, 2014). "Owens promoted to Triple-A". ESPN. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
  11. Farrell, Nathan (April 9, 2015). "PawSox Set Opening Day Roster". Yawkeywayreport.com. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  12. McCaffrey, Jen (August 1, 2015). "Boston Red Sox rotation not set yet for road trip; Henry Owens, Brian Johnson to get a look". masslive.com. Retrieved August 2, 2015.
  13. "Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees Box Score, August 4, 2015". Baseball Reference. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  14. Cox, Zack (August 9, 2015). "Red Sox Notes: Henry Owens Earns First Win For Sox; Koji Uehara Sent Home". NESN. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
  15. "Henry Owens Stats". Baseball Reference.
  16. Thomas, Kevin (September 3, 2017). "On Baseball: Henry Owens taking small steps in regaining command". Press Herald. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  17. Collins, Matt (December 6, 2017). "Red Sox place Henry Owens on outright waivers". SB Nation. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  18. McCaffrey, Jen (December 8, 2017). "Henry Owens claimed off waivers by Arizona Diamondbacks". Masslive.com. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  19. Shaikin, Bill (December 22, 2017). "Dodgers claim pitcher Henry Owens". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  20. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2018/05/dodgers-designate-henry-owens.html
  21. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on May 20, 2018. Retrieved May 19, 2018.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  22. "Henry Owens » PitchFx » Velocity Graphs". FanGraphs. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
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