Owen, a native of Chesterfield (pop: 1,318), South Carolina, had a remarkable career at Francis Marion University, where he struck out 334 batters in 323 innings. He was named to the American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings NCAA Division II All-South Atlnatic Region Team, in addition to being named the region’s “Pitcher of the Year”
Owen was drafted in the 20th round of the 2007 draft, signed, and assigned to Brooklyn.
He throws a 93 mph fastball, and an electric slider.
In August 2007, Owen was named to the NY-Penn All-Star team. He ended the 2007 season with a stellar 9-1, 1.49, 0.87 season in 14 games, 13 starts, plus had 69 Ks in 72.1 IP. He was named as the recipient of the 2007 Sterling Award, given to the MVP of the Brooklyn Cyclones.
In November Scouts.com named Owens the 21st top Mets prospect.
From the Prospect Handbook:
Owen dominated hitters during his college career at Francis Marion (S.C.), earning NCAA Division II 2007 pitcher-of-the-year honors after going 10-1, 1.04 and setting the Peach Belt Conference career strikeout record with 334 in three seasons. His success carried over into his pro debut, as he took advantage of short-season Brooklyn's pitcher-friendly Keyspan Park like few pitchers have. Signed for $50,000 in the 20th round, Owen claimed two-thirds of the New York-Penn League's pitching triple crown, leading in wins (nine) and ERA (1.49). He has a shorter and wider body than scouts would like but also solid-average stuff and an advanced feel pitching. He spots his 86-90 mph fastball to all four quadrants of the strike zone, and while he has below-average velocity, he can get to 91-92 when needed, even late in games. He has above-average fastball command, and he can vary his breaking balls depending on the situation, using shorter sliders for groundballs and bigger curves for strikeouts. Owen doesn't have much projection or a true plus pitch, so he's unlikely to become an elite prospect. But he's likely to get pushed aggressively to see if he can get advanced hitters out, and he could jump to high Class A in 2008.
In 2008, Owen pitched for both St. Lucie and Binghamton, combining for a 13-7, 3.66 record.
In October 2008, Toby Hyde on Dylan Owen: - Owen and Gee were back-to-back picks in 2007. In 2007, Owen led the NYP in wins and ERA while earning the team’s Sterling Award. Both pitchers hopped right from Brooklyn to the FSL. Like Gee, Owen had great success in the FSL by throwing lots of strikes with a superb K/BB rate (3.51). Unlike Gee, Owen’s first taste of AA did not go well. Owen throws a fastball that’s mostly upper 80s, a slider and a changeup. Likely 09 start: AA
From Mike Newman/Mets Geek: - Dylan Owen, SP - In tying for the Mets’ minor league lead in wins, the 22-year old Owen earned a number of followers as one of the Mets 2007 big three late round college pitching picks. Along with Dillon Gee, and Mike Antonini, the Mets added pitching depth to a depleted organization post the Johan Santana deal. While Owen’s numbers compare favorably to the two aforementioned players, his future prospects likely do not. For starters, Owen is pretty small, as his listed height of 5′11″ seems closer to 5′10″ from what I have read. Pedro Martinez aside, righties under six feet rarely have major league success. Of course a fan will throw out Tim Lincecum as another successful pitcher under six feet, but he’s a true freak of nature. Owen is not. With good control and average stuff, pitchers similar to Owen often struggle against advanced competition. His 5.51 ERA in a short, but possibly telling, Double-A stint points to 2009 being a true test of Owen’s mettle. Remember, Dillon Gee dominated in his limited time in Double-A and Antonini will receive numerous opportunities because he’s a lefty. If Antonini and Gee are A’s, Owen is a B or B- leaving him with a very iffy future.
4-15-10: - It looks like the Mets will be beginning their "let's test a pitcher" game in Queens and Owen might be the first one to get a shot similar to the one Jonathan Niese got last year. He's had two excellent outings so far with stats of 11.0-IP, 0.82, 0.73, and 8-K, whihc is a high K-IP ratio for him. Noting fancy here... just good control pitching, and a potential innings eater.
Update: 7-7-10: - Owen has seemed to either lose his way, or he has simply reached the top levels of his talent. He began the year with AA-Binghamton, where he faired well (2-1, 2.61, in nine games, six starts), but like many minor league pitchers, stuggled at the AAA level. He put up Buffalo stats of 3-4, 6.17, in nine games, seven starts, and has now been sent back down to Binghamton to work as a relief pitcher. Owen turns 24 on the 12th of this month and his chances of making it someday to Queens look iffy at best.
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