Boston Red Sox: Is Henry Owens Running Out of Chances?

Henry Owens continues to struggle for the Boston Red Sox.

Given the opportunity to contribute to a streaking Boston Red Sox team, young pitching prospect Henry Owens took the mound on Sunday (Aug. 21) looking to find the control evading him this season.

Instead, the walks kept coming….and coming. They eventually stopped at five, but when those occur in five innings of work, things most likely will never end favorably.

Throw in six hits and eight runs over those five innings and what you end up with is a 10-5 loss on Sunday to the Detroit Tigers.

All of this begs the question: is it time for the Boston Red Sox to give up on Owens?

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It was the lefty’s 15th career-start for the Red Sox, one in which walks continue to plague Owens. While he’s not expected to be posting Clayton Kershaw type numbers, Owens could be pitching much better than the 4.5 BB/start he’s averaging this season.

Control issues were only a sporadic occurrence for Owens in his debut season with the Red Sox. In 2015, he posted a 4-4 record with a 4.57 ERA for the Red Sox. In 11 starts Owens walked 24 batters, but 16 of those came in a matter of four starts.

Aside from striking out five of the first seven batters he faced on Sunday, Owens has shown little semblance to the pitcher who pitched eight innings in a 7-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals in his second career-start.

Owens is 0-1 with a 7.79 ERA in 2016 and has allowed five home runs.

Even at Triple-A Pawtucket, the numbers are only slight better. Owens has posted an 8-6 record with a respectable 3.70 ERA but the walks have accumulated. He has issued 74 in 119 innings.

Control issues can be harnessed and they can be worked around. Red Sox fans can most likely recall a little pitcher named Daisuke Matsuzaka, a man who once went 18-3 while averaging over three walks per start.

The trouble with Henry Owens, at this point in his young career, is working out of these jams he creates for himself. The mental wherewithal is something that Owens hasn’t quite developed yet, but for many, that comes with age and experience.

Owens is twenty-four, now five years removed from being drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the first round of the 2011 draft. Fifteen career starts, while a good sample size, aren’t quite enough to call it good on a pitcher or not.

A combination of age and experience – plus the flashes of brilliance he showed in 2015- are enough to keep Owens around for the time being to see what kind of player he can grow into.

There’s the possibility Owens might be needed for spot starts over the next six weeks. Despite the momentum of the pitching staff, Steven Wright and Eduardo Rodriguez have nagging injuries that may keep them from making starts. And when it comes to a pennant race, it’s all hands on deck.

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Is Owens the next coming of Jon Lester, like many hoped for? No, but with a foundation of David Price, Rick Porcello, Wright and the improving Drew Pomeranz, he doesn’t need to be a star. He simply needs to go out, pitch and control the one thing he can: his control.

He does that and the Red Sox patience with him will be well worth the wait.

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