Adam Loewen
| Year | Age | Tm | Lg | W | L | G | GS | GF | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | IBB | SO | HBP | BK | WP | BF | Awards | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 22 | BAL | AL | 6 | 6 | .500 | 5.37 | 22 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 112.1 | 111 | 72 | 67 | 8 | 62 | 0 | 98 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 504 | 85 | 1.540 | 8.9 | 0.6 | 5.0 | 7.9 | 1.58 | |
| 2007 | 23 | BAL | AL | 2 | 0 | 1.000 | 3.56 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30.1 | 27 | 14 | 12 | 1 | 26 | 0 | 22 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 143 | 131 | 1.747 | 8.0 | 0.3 | 7.7 | 6.5 | 0.85 | |
| 2008 | 24 | BAL | AL | 0 | 2 | .000 | 8.02 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21.1 | 25 | 19 | 19 | 5 | 18 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 102 | 56 | 2.016 | 10.5 | 2.1 | 7.6 | 5.9 | 0.78 | |
| 3 Seasons | 8 | 8 | .500 | 5.38 | 35 | 29 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 164.0 | 163 | 105 | 98 | 14 | 106 | 0 | 134 | 11 | 2 | 6 | 749 | 85 | 1.640 | 8.9 | 0.8 | 5.8 | 7.4 | 1.26 | ||||
| 162 Game Avg. | 9 | 9 | .500 | 5.38 | 37 | 31 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 174 | 173 | 112 | 104 | 15 | 113 | 0 | 142 | 12 | 2 | 6 | 796 | 85 | 1.640 | 8.9 | 0.8 | 5.8 | 7.4 | 1.26 | ||||
Baltimore Orioles
Loewen went on to play one season with Chipola College, but signed a Major League Baseball contract with Baltimore worth $4.02 million shortly thereafter. In 2004, he was named their top prospect by Baseball America. However, by early 2006, he had been downgraded to the team's second best prospect.
Loewen garnered international attention on March 8, 2006, when he started for Canada against the star-studded United States team in the first round of the World Baseball Classic. In 3 2/3 shutout innings, Loewen held veterans Chipper Jones, Mark Teixeira, Vernon Wells, and Derrek Lee hitless. He ended up earning the win as Canada won the game 8–6.
During the 2006 season, Loewen was called up by the Orioles. In his first four Major League starts, he faced former Cy Young Award winners: Randy Johnson, Tom Glavine and Roy Halladay twice. This made Loewen the first pitcher in Major League Baseball history to face Cy Young winners in his first four starts.[citation needed] He was injured early in the 2007 season, suffering a stress fracture to his pitching elbow and was later placed on the 15-day disabled list.
Loewen began to develop control problems during spring training, where he led the Majors in walks, with 19 in just over 16 innings.[2] His lack of control did not cease during the early stages of the regular season, and after experiencing soreness in his left arm throughout April, Loewen was placed on the disabled list and missed the next two months of the season. Although he was subsequently converted into a relief pitcher when he returned in July, he experienced a sharp pain in his surgically repaired elbow. This injury, diagnosed as a stress fracture, eventually caused him to prematurely end his season. Loewen announced on July 19 that he would no longer be a pitcher due to his chronic injuries, and that he would convert to an outfielder/first baseman.[3] He ended his pitching career with a lifetime 8–8 record, with an earned run average of 5.38 and 134 strikeouts.
Transition to position player
During 2011 with Triple-A Las Vegas, Loewen batted .306 with 17 home runs and 85 RBI in 134 games, which also saw him play all three outfield positions as well as first base.
Toronto Blue Jays
Loewen was called up to the Blue Jays on September 6, 2011, marking his first trip back to the majors since becoming a position player.[7][8] Loewen made his position player debut on Wednesday, September 7, against the Boston Red Sox. He recorded his first career hit in the 8th inning, against reliever Daniel Bard.[9] In a game against his former team, the Baltimore Orioles, on September 11, Loewen hit his first career home run, a solo shot over the centre field wall off starter Tommy Hunter.[10]New York Mets
On November 22, 2011, he signed a minor league contract with the New York Mets.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Loewen
Adam Loewen was drafted by the Orioles in the first round in 2002, fourth overall, out of high school in Surrey, British Columbia. He didn't sign right away, but he skipped his Arizona State scholarship and went to Chipola JC instead to retain the ability to sign. I didn't give him a grade in the 2003 book since it was unclear what would happen to him. He had a good campaign in junior college and signed with Baltimore right before he would have gone back into the '03 draft pool. His pro debut was strong: 2.70 ERA with a 25/9 K/BB in 23 innings in the New York-Penn League. I gave him a Grade B in the '04 book, noting that he had ace potential if he could improve his command.
Loewen spent most of 2004 at Class A Delmarva in the Sally League, going 4-5, 4.11 with a 82/58 K/BB in 85 innings. He also made two starts for Class A Frederick, losing both and allowing nine walks in eight innings. Problems with his mechanics hampered his command, and his season ended early with a labrum injury. This was corrected without surgery, but the injury combined with his command problems limited him to a Grade C+ in the 2005 book.
Loewen spent 2005 at Frederick, going 10-8, 4.12 with a 146/86 K/BB in 142 innings. Impressive K/IP but too many walks stand out. Scouting reports pointed out his 90-95 MPH fastball, big-breaking curve, and strong ground ball tendencies, but also noted the remaining command issues. I wrote that "he could turn into Francisco Liriano, but he could also turn into Ty Howington" and moved him back up to Grade B.
2006 saw Loewen pitch very well at the Double-A and Triple-A levels, sharpening his command considerably, but struggling in the majors, going 6-6, 5.37 with a 98/62 K/BB. Last year he kept his ERA low at 3.56, but of course was limited to just 30.1 innings by injury. And in those 30.1 innings his K/BB was an ugly 22/26.
Two issues here: health and command. The elbow stress fracture that ended his '07 campaign early is fine now and is not expected to be an issue. There hasn't been a recurrence thus far of the labrum problem from 2004. Of course it's entirely possible that either problem could recur or something else could happen. I can't predict that obviously.
As for the command issue, anyone who has seen Loewen pitch knows he's got first-class stuff when healthy and just needs to be more consistent with it. But that's a big "just needs"...can Loewen actually do it?
The top name on Loewen's Sim Score list is Al Leiter, who also ranks highly (fifth) on his PECOTA comp list. The Lieter comp makes a lot of sense to me: injury and command problems, occasionally overpowering, a better-than-average pitcher overall with flashes of brilliance but never quite living up to his complete potential. That's' what I expect out of Loewen at this point, assuming he doesn't completely fall apart. - http://www.minorleagueball.com/2008/3/12/185347/205
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1 comment:
I could see Loewen winning a spot in the roster and even platooning with Bay
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