Red Sox: Don’t give up on left-handed pitcher Henry Owens just yet
Despite being regarded as a top prospect in the Red Sox’ farm system for years, Henry Owens has failed to live up to his expectations. It’s not time to give up on him yet.
Henry Owens, a player ranked second in Baseball America’s Top 10 Red Sox Prospect list in 2014 and 2015, is now scorned at by fans, and deservedly so.
Owens, 24, has only tallied 17 career Major League starts, but he has managed to get himself on the naughty list. Sox fans have started to write him off as a potential contributor at the big league level, but it’s not time to give up on Owens just yet.
The Red Sox fan base, myself included, is one that expects immediate success. This isn’t wishful thinking, but rather just the way cards have fallen in recent years. In 2007, Clay Buchholz entered the bigs as a highly touted prospect and threw a no-hitter two starts later. Dustin Pedroia won the Rookie of the Year award in his first season, only to follow it with an MVP season in 2008. Other former top prospects such as Jacoby Ellsbury, Xander Bogaerts, and Mookie Betts have followed a similar destiny: immediate success in the major leagues.
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This isn’t always the case. More often than not, a prospect will need time — a year or two — to mature before they show why they were so highly rated. For evidence, look no further than center field. Jackie Bradley Jr. emerged in 2013 during Spring Training as the future of the Red Sox outfield. In March, Bradley hit a slash line of .419/.507/.613 to earn the Opening Day starting job. Sox fans then painfully endured three years of Bradley showing signs of stardom in Triple-A Pawtucket while being unable to produce in the bigs until his magical All-Star, 29-game hitting streak season in 2016.
There is no reason Owens can’t do the same. Owens has shown Bradley-esque promise in the minors. Despite his multiple disastrous stints with the Red Sox last season, Owens pitched remarkably in Pawtucket. He closed the year with a 1.78 ERA and a 4-2 record, racking up 39 strikeouts in 35.4 innings pitched in his final seven starts.
Owens’ career path has been perplexing. His 60-grade fastball and renowned game command early in his minor league career seemingly disappeared when he put on the Red Sox uniform. Containing a fastball that has topped out at 94 miles per hour, Owens’ averaged as low as 87 miles per hour in some of his major league starts last year. Red Sox fans wrote the ship on Owens, but his dominance was restored in Pawtucket.
Finally, we cannot give up on Henry Owens simply because we have no other options, and frankly, it is easier to be optimistic. Owens is currently seventh in the starting rotation’s line of succession, and sixth until David Price returns from his injury. As fragile as starting pitchers are, we may be seeing Owens in the majors as early as April or May.
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Other options such as Brian Johnson and Roenis Elias are as unproven, if not more, than Owens, and while the Red Sox strengthened their backup starting pitching depth by adding Mexican league standout Hector Velazquez, it is likely that he will also need time before he is ready to make meaningful starts. That leaves Owens, who may be bookending the Red Sox rotation sooner rather than later.
That may not be as bad as we think.