Met Propect - 3B Shawn Bowman

Shawn Bowman 3B R R 6-2 206 12/9/84

Bowman was selected by the Mets in the 12th Round (357th overall) of the 2002 draft. He signed (out of Charles Best high school in Coquitlam, British Columbia) late so he did not play for any Mets organization in 2002. He split 2003 between Kingsport (.121) and Brooklyn (.203), and, in 2004, Bowman was kicked up to Capital City (A) where he hit .259, with 19HRs and 69 RBIs.

Scout.com listed Bowman that year as the #3 Mets prospect. 2005 brought a promotion to St. Lucie (A+) where be hit .223, with 17 HRs. He was sidelined due to a fractured L-5 vertebrate in his lower back, which he fractured again in 2006. In 32 games for St. Lucie, Bowman batted .252 with three home runs and 19 RBI. He briefly considered having surgery to repair the back but eventually settled upon a rehabilitation program, which was carried out at the Mets' Tradition Field training complex.

Baseball America ranked him as the #7 prospect that year (and the best defensive infielder) and InsidePitch had him #8. This year, OnDeck ranks him this year as the Mets #16 prospect and John Sickles gives him a C rating and ranks him as the 17th Mets prospect. InsidePitch listed Bowman (in Nov 2001) the 7th top Mets prospect. Scout.com gave Bowman ‘2 stars’ (and the 17th top 3B prospect in baseball) as one of the Mets top 10 prospects (issued in December ’06). Bowman has begun his road back to professional baseball by playing winter ball in Nicaragua, where he has powered the offense for Tigres de Chinandega as the cleanup hitter. John Sickles’ 2007 prospect list has him at #15, with the comments “back injury 2 years in a row). He is expected to begin the 2007 season in Binghamton, or St. Lucie.

Scout.com ranks Bowman as the 6th Mets prospect on their revised list that came out prior to the 2007 spring training.

In 2007, he once again started the season with back problems and was placed on the minor league injured reserve list prior to opening day. He did play a short time for St. Lucie as a DH (.150/.182/.300 in 20 at bats), and he is now attempting to come back in 2008 as a pitcher.

In 2008, Bowman was a Disney movie rolled into a Spielberg direction.

In September 2008, Bowman was assigned to the Peoria Saguaros team in the Arizona Winter League.

In 2008, Bowman rebounded with a wonderful season in St. Lucie (.340). He was promoted to Binghamton and his combined stats were: .290/.312/.491 in 210 at bats. More important, he was not injured all season long.

From Mike Newman/Mets Geek:

Shawn Bowman, 3B - Bowman is a former 12th round pick whose career started with a bang but has crashed and burned over the past three seasons. After averaging 17.5 HR per season as a nineteen- and twenty-year-old, his eight home runs over the past three seasons due to fracturing the same vertebrate in his back not once but twice leaves his current value at zero, although some Mets fans seem to think his power could recover. In 200 2008 at bats, he had only four homers while posting a 58/6 strikeout to walk ratio in High-A and Double-A. His advanced age, injury history, and lack of production have left him looking like an organizational player at best. Even when Bowman was at his best, he still had major holes in his offensive approach. His OPS’ stayed in the low- to mid-.700’s, with far too many strikeouts to be truly relevant. Don’t be fooled by his winter league numbers; Bowman was fresh in winter leagues notorious for players who are tired and simply going through the motions.