What Are the Twins Getting in Darren Bowen?

Gems are all around us and perhaps Bowen becomes a polished one. 

The one thought that comes to mind is that Seattle, Milwaukee, the Los Angeles Dodgers, Cleveland, and some others are frequently lauded on multiple baseball platforms for their superior development of pitchers

Are the Twins superior at their development of pitchers in comparison these teams? Bowen came from Seattle.

Super young pitchers without a third pitch are super high risk. I get that. That said, everything I've seen here looks great. Excited about Bowen's potential.

The Mariners Locked on Podcast were actually pretty high on Bowen,  had him as Mariners top 17 prospect,  Gonzalez #7 (significantly lower than the top #100 ranking).   They say the ball really pops out of his hand,  they are a little concerned about durability with a thin frame, and that he is most likely a 2 pitch pitcher.   He is more than just a flier.  Best comment was,  there is much much more chance higher than non zero that Bowen is the best player in this trade.   

BPro had him at 13, and the first 11 were position players

2 hours ago, chpettit19 said:

Will be very interesting to see if they move him directly to the pen or try to keep him as a starter. He's 23 (well technically not for 2 more days) so he's nowhere near young for an A ball pitcher (not old either, but not young). I assume they'd plan to move him to A+ to start the year, or very quickly there after, but it'll be interesting to see if they have him starting or just throw him in the A+ pen and see if he can take off like a rocket through the system by just relying on maxing out his 2 best pitches. Don't have any opinion of my own (shocking, I know!) on what to do with him, but will just be interested to see what they end up doing.

Its either the 2 pitch reliever route,  or likely add a sweeper and keep as a starter.  

2 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

Doesn't he already throw a sweeper? I don't know enough about his arsenal to know what to call his slider. But I'd think a change would be the more likely 3rd pitch if he's fastball slider now, but I don't know what his slider is really like. But I'd think their belief in his ability to efficiently add a 3rd pitch would be the deciding factor. At 23 he doesn't have a ton of time to tinker with a 3rd pitch. But certainly hope that's what he's working on right now!

Yes that does appear so.  I thought it would be a curve or changeup.  

Late bloomer (by today’s standards)…was pretty much a non-prospect in HS. Then to a D2 college.

They should (and probably will) take their time with him. His background and freak athleticism warrants patience. Huge upside for a ‘throw in’…but I don’t expect him to be ready, even in a best-case scenario (at least as a starter) until at least 2026.

Don't we have a few 25/26 yo guys that are in “figure it out development mode?”  Give him a couple years and he will be right where Sands/winder/JB are now….. or he could be better than that. Don't sleep on him. 

1 hour ago, Jamie Cameron said:

So it's funny that you mention that. As a general rule, I think disregarding outcomes for college players is a good way to go (especially pitchers). The offensive environment in college is really bloated.

Further, this was D2 baseball…quality/consistency of defense, fields, as uneven as the opposition. It’s a completely different environment than 95% of mid-round college drafties. Background is more Nick Anderson than David Festa. Same floor, higher ceiling.

On 2/1/2024 at 1:51 PM, CCHOF5yearstoolate said:

Cedar Rapids is about to have 6 starters from the 2022 draft in Bowen, Kyle Jones, Zebby Matthews, Cory Lewis, CJ Culpepper and Andrew Morris. Pretty interesting!

Get your facts right , Lewis will definitely start in AA  , he has nothing left to prove in A ball and FO is moving this group rapidly  but some will fail because of it  , Lewis right now it the best of the lot ...

1 minute ago, CCHOF5yearstoolate said:

Ooh, an angry little elf coming in late acting like he knows something he can't possible know for a fact.

Going through my profile and pettily disliking all my comments wasn't quite satisfying enough for you, eh?

Grow up.  

No I'm the jolly green giant  , im disagreeing with your thumbs down to everyone that doesn't deserve it , they are smarter than a fifth grader  and most of the time know what they are talking about  ..  

Your newer to the site and an old saying , if you can't say anything nice about them don't say anything at all ...

If i deserve a thumbs down  , then  okay , but when I don't deserve one I take it personally  and so do others   , so write a quote and  tell me why you disagree  ...