8/4 MiLB Gameday: Owens in Rhode Island

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mabrowndog said:
Owens strikes out the side on 15 pitches in the first, getting 1 swinging & 2 looking
 
 
I'm giddy.
 
Me too....I got an opportunity to chat with him the last time he was in Binghamton...nice kid, I told him there's a place in Fenway for him,,He responded by saying there's a log jam in the way...not so much any more Henry... I added..."it's not a matter of if Henry, it's when."...He smiled.
 

benhogan

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JHU Sox fan said:
Seventh inning:
 
Outside fastball lined hard into CF for a single.
 
Fallball with a lazy fly out to CF.
 
Curve ball strike looking on the outside corner. Fast ball ground out field choice on a nice play by Cecchini at 3B (was playing off the line and had to dive to get the play)
 
Fastball fouled off. Missed the next two pitches but they were balls. Swing and miss on the change. 94 MPH fastball that just missed outside. Change up missed low for the walk on the 100th pitch and Owens is being pulled.
Thanks for the color.
 
Besides the obvious success today (high strike %, Ks, 2 singles, 0 runs) 94mph in the 7th is really impressive.
 
Anyone keeping track of the 'swings and misses' he had today?
 

mabrowndog

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Derrik Gibson = Brock Holt Lite(R)
 
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Derrik Gibson crushes a solo HR (his second in as many games) as PawSox up their lead to 5-0 over the Clippers in the 7th at McCoy.
 

JHU Sox fan

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Owens didn't seem as dominant in the seventh, but overall that was really really impressive. The change up is going to be really good at the major league level. Looks like the same arm motion and fooled just about everyone tonight on that pitch. The curve had really good break on it at times and really only threw two hangers all night. Tough to tell how good the fastball was without a radar gun watching on TV, but he didn't get many swings and misses on the pitch and didn't really paint any fastballs in strikeout counts.  
 

Cuzittt

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Boxscore

Keith Couch went 4 innings, giving up 2 hits and a HBP while striking out 3. Jeffry Fernandez went 4 innings, allowing 2 runs (1 earned) on a hit, 2 HBPs, and 2 WPs; striking out one. Taylor Nunez pitched a perfect 9th.

Michael Chavis 2/3 with 2 doubles, a walk and a SB. Derek Miller went 2/5 with a double and 2 SBs. Jhon Nunez went 1/3 before being replaced by Alex McKeon who went 1/1. Rafael Devers, Devon Fisher, Luis Alexander Basabe and Josh Ockimey each went 1/4; Devers with a triple. Trenton Kemp went 0/4. Jeremy Rivera went 0/5.
 

Montana Fan

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So Owens is going to take credit for the excellent job done by his battery mate? Nice that he and Swihart came up together. Getting pretty used to each other I presume. Be interesting to read their comments about pairing up with each other during this season.
 

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mabrowndog said:
Henry falls behind the first 3 batters in the 5th 1-0, getting the first 2 to fly to left, but he walks Carlos Moncrief.
 
EDIT - And a first-pitch fly to left ends it. Brentz getting busy out there.
 
EDIT - FWIW, all 4 batters that inning were hitting RH (2 switch), so I assume Owens was coming across the plate and inside on them and they tried to pull. If so I like that Henry's challenging them instead of only trying to paint the outside. JHU, can you confirm?
Whoops I missed this. Not the case. Off speed stuff on the outside that the hitters where out in front of.
 

Cuzittt

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Spinners win game 1, 2-0.

Boxscore

Jake Drehoff went 6 innings, giving up 3 hits and 2 walks; striking out one. Ellis Jimenez went an inning, giving up a hit. Carlos Pinales went an inning, giving up a hit.

Cisco Tellez went 2/3. Danny Mars went 2/4. Nick Moore went 1/3 with a double. Jordan Betts and Mike Meyers each went 1/4. David Sopilka went 0/1 with a walk and a sacrifice. Bryan Hudson went 0/2 with a sacrifice. Mauricio Dubon went 0/3. Raymel Flores went 0/4.
 

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Lowell wins game 2, 2-1.

Boxscore

Kevin McAvoy went 3 innings, giving up 2 hits, a walk and a HBP; striking out one. Brandon Show pitched a perfect 4th. Edwar Garcia went an inning, walking one and striking out one. Kuehl McEachern went 2 innings, allowing a run on 2 hits; striking out 2.

Danny Mars went 2/3 with a double. Deiner Lopez went 1/2 with a sacrifice. Jordan Betts, Mauricio Dubon, Joseph Monge and Alixon Suarez each went 1/3; Betts with a triple, Dubon with a double. Mike Meyers, Aneudis Peralta, and Jordan Procyshen each went 0/3.
 

LuckyBen

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I've seen Owens pitch very little, but when I read reports, I thing Barry Zito. Not an over powering fastball, but great off speed. For those who have seen him quite a bit, what other pitchers serve as comparables?
 

JHU Sox fan

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soxhop411 said:
did Garin Cecchini get hit in the face?
Yep. Ground ball to first base and on the return throw from Lindor at shortstop the pitcher was late getting to the bag and the throw hit Cecchini right around the ear flap. Couldn't really tell if it the ear flap first. He was holding a towel up to his mouth as he walked off the field. 
 

Cuzittt

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Pawsox win 5-0.

Boxscore

Henry Owens went 6 2/3 innings, giving up 2 hits, a HBP and 3 walks; striking out 9. John Ely went 1 1/3 innings, giving up a hit and a walk; striking out one. Drake Britton went an inning, giving up a hit.

Justin Henry went 3/3 with a walk. Bryce Brentz went 3/4 with a double and a HR. Alex Hassan went 2/4. Derrik Gibson went 1/3 with a HR. Travis Shaw, Deven Marrero and Garin Cecchini each went 1/4; Marrero with a double. Blake Swihart went 0/3. Carlos Rivero went 0/4.
 

Cuzittt

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Drive win 4-3 in 15.

Boxscore

Ty Buttrey went 5 innings, allowing 2 runs on 5 hits (1 HR) and 2 walks; striking out 7. Myles Smith went 5 innings, allowing an unearned run on 4 hits, 2 walks and a WP; striking out one. Mike Adams went 3 innings, giving up a hit and striking out 4. Raynel Velette went 2 innings, giving up a hit and a walk; striking out 2.

Manuel Margot went 3/7 with a double, SB and CS. Jimmy Rider went 1/4 with 2 walks and a SB. Wendell Rijo, Tim Roberson and Hector Lorenzana each went 1/5 with a walk; Roberson with a double. Franklin Guzman went 1/5 with a sacrifice. Cole Sturgeon went 1/6 with a double and a walk. Sam Travis went 1/6. Jake Romanski went 0/6.

Greenville Bottom of the 15th

Manuel Margot singles on a ground ball to center fielder Chris Lofton.
With Cole Sturgeon batting, Manuel Margot steals (35) 2nd base.
Cole Sturgeon doubles (5) on a fly ball to right fielder Cristian Paulino. Manuel Margot scores.
 

RoDaddy

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Sounds like Owen's curve was effective tonight.  I might be reading into this but I'm thinking that's what he worked on the last month in Portland starting with his bold pronouncement at the Future's game about his first pitch, which turned out to be a curve.  He certainly could've been promoted a month or so ago, but working on that pitch may very well be why he stayed in AA.  If so, the strategy is working moving forward - the great change, a bit better than average fastball based on reports that he's sneaky fast, and the curve.
 

TimScribble

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I seem to recall someone saying Owens seemed bored in AA. Maybe this promotion challenged him and he responded.
 

JimBoSox9

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LuckyBen said:
I've seen Owens pitch very little, but when I read reports, I thing Barry Zito. Not an over powering fastball, but great off speed. For those who have seen him quite a bit, what other pitchers serve as comparables?
Well, this:

JHU Sox fan said:
Curve and change look dominant. The fastball command so far is the only thing missing. 
Is a dead ringer for vintage-era Buchholz scouting reports, back in the day when he was dropping curves and changes off cliffs but couldn't set any of it up.
 

Jed Zeppelin

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RoDaddy said:
Sounds like Owen's curve was effective tonight.  I might be reading into this but I'm thinking that's what he worked on the last month in Portland starting with his bold pronouncement at the Future's game about his first pitch, which turned out to be a curve.  He certainly could've been promoted a month or so ago, but working on that pitch may very well be why he stayed in AA.  If so, the strategy is working moving forward - the great change, a bit better than average fastball based on reports that he's sneaky fast, and the curve.
Yeah, I had been a bit concerned about the reports of his curve being too loopy/not enough bite. Sounded like something that might be exposed eventually, leaving just a guy with one great pitch. Really hope that 3rd pitch is for real.

I like that they pushed him into the 7th. Being economical and finishing strong are just as important as anything stuff-related.
 

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Encouraging AAA debut after a couple of rough starts in AA. Let's hope it was just the training staff forcing him to do certain things, taking him out of his comfort zone.

Hopefully he finishes the season strong because he's got a shot at making the rotation out of spring training next year.
 

jscola85

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mabrowndog said:
 
Per Brian MacPherson, 70 of 100 pitches for strikes with 19 swings & misses.
 
If this is accurate, that's an insane swinging strike %. 27%?!
 
For reference, Kershaw leads the majors with an average swinging strike % of 14.7%.
 

David Laurila

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I was there tonight and Owens was nothing short of fantastic. The Columbus lineup is good, and they were completely flummoxed, waving at curves and changes all night. Highest I recall seeing on McCoy gun was 93. Lowest might have been 69.
 

David Laurila

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JHU Sox fan said:
Yep. Ground ball to first base and on the return throw from Lindor at shortstop the pitcher was late getting to the bag and the throw hit Cecchini right around the ear flap. Couldn't really tell if it the ear flap first. He was holding a towel up to his mouth as he walked off the field. 
 
Kevin Boles said after game it was Cecchini's jaw. Unclear on extent of injury, but didn't get impression it's serious.
 

benhogan

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jscola85 said:
 
If this is accurate, that's an insane swinging strike %. 27%?!
 
For reference, Kershaw leads the majors with an average swinging strike % of 14.7%.
That seemed about right, I casually kept an eye on 'game day' and there seemed like a ton of 'swings and misses', hence why I asked the question.
 
His change and curve were clocked in the low 70s and his fastball in the low 90s, thats a huge differential. Add in the release point from a 6'6" pitcher and thats awesome.  
 
 
edit: I got it wrong, sounds like his change was in low 80s
 

SouthernBoSox

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I'd actually prefer his change and curve to have more velocity difference.

He'll either need to make that adjustment or add a harder breaking ball.

Hard to argue with those results though. Lot to like with Owens.
 

SeoulSoxFan

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In a post-game video interview with Swihart, he mentions that Owens wanted to throw a lot of curves because people have been saying "he doesn't have a curve" and wanted to "show them".
 
So the lefty's a bit of a pisser. 
 

LondonSox

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The think that is interesting for Owens (and starting to make some noises about being more than a really solid mid rpotation option)
are
1) The curve seems to be improving - if he can make this a plus his ceiling goes up IMO. If he can make it even a reliable average with flashes pitch even that might.
2) His command is better IMO this year. In the past he's lost his release point and gone wild, or just had games where he couldn't throw strikes when he meant to, leading to too many BB and early hooks.
 
He's never been hit hard, yet, but if either the command/ control ticks up or the curve becomes a plus then I think you are in range of a higher ceiling. There are flashes of this recently.
 

Tyrone Biggums

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mabrowndog said:
https://twitter.com/PawSox/status/496460693940744192"]4m

link to tweet[/url]
Derrik Gibson crushes a solo HR (his second in as many games) as PawSox up their lead to 5-0 over the Clippers in the 7th at McCoy.

I've seen the Willie Bloomquist comparison thrown around a bit. Could become a very useful player. Took a step forward this year and would love to see him get a call up in September. Rather see him on this team than Kelly Johnson.
 

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David Laurila said:
I was there tonight and Owens was nothing short of fantastic. The Columbus lineup is good, and they were completely flummoxed, waving at curves and changes all night. Highest I recall seeing on McCoy gun was 93. Lowest might have been 69.
 
That sounds like his 2nd (slow) curveball.
 

Buzzkill Pauley

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Thanks for posting the video!
 
I definitely see where the Barry Zito comp is coming from.  If he keeps being able to spot the curve for strikes, wow.  His arm action and release point looks very consistent between the curve, changeup, and fastball.  In fact, I thought either the announcers botched a few of the calls -- some called curves looked more like changeups to me.
 
I've only ever seen him pitch from the 3B side of the stands, so I never really could see how over-the-top his delivery is.  Gotta be hard to pick up the height of the pitch at release.
 

LeftyTG

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mabrowndog said:
The GIF is just as glorious...
 
The other thing that deserves a little bit of notice is how well Swihart's received some of those pitches.  He's pretty quiet back there and did a great job framing.
 

jscola85

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Buzzkill Pauley said:
Thanks for posting the video!
 
I definitely see where the Barry Zito comp is coming from.  If he keeps being able to spot the curve for strikes, wow.  His arm action and release point looks very consistent between the curve, changeup, and fastball.  In fact, I thought either the announcers botched a few of the calls -- some called curves looked more like changeups to me.
 
I've only ever seen him pitch from the 3B side of the stands, so I never really could see how over-the-top his delivery is.  Gotta be hard to pick up the height of the pitch at release.
 
Difference is that Zito never threw faster than 87-88 even in his best form - he always sat 85-87 and relied on tremendous command and great pitch mixing.  Owens has a fastball that can miss a few bats.
 

SouthernBoSox

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Ownes also has a release point that is significantly higher than Zito.

Should be able to get more grounders.

That said, Barry Zito was really really really good.
 

LondonSox

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That curve is much better than I have seen before.
I wonder if has improved that much or we caught it on a good night.
As mentioned above, turning his raw but promising curve into a plus pitch would really raise his potential ceiling imo