2015 Henry Owens

A few weeks ago, I asked on Twitter for suggestions of players/teams that I should profile.  The only response I got was from @shanesalmonson for his beloved Red Sox. Well the only Inception I have of a player who is currently still with the organization is Henry Owens, so that’s who we are going with this week!  If anyone else has any suggestions, let me know!  

Admittedly, I didn’t know much about Owens going into the research for this article, so I had a lot to learn!  

At the bottom of the post, be sure to check out who the winner of the 10 Week Inception card giveaway was! Thanks to all who entered! 

Player History:

Two years ago, I started playing fantasy baseball for the first time in a very long time, and it was the first time I felt like I had an actual clue as to what I was doing.  I remember having seen the 2015 Henry Owens Inception card and then getting excited when I heard he was getting called up in August that year.  It was one of the first times I was able to connect a player I knew nothing about with these cards (guys like Buxton and Correa don’t count because I knew a lot more about them long before I saw their cards).  

In the 2015 season, Owens made his debut in Yankee Stadium (the youngest Red Sox pitcher to debut in Yankee Stadium since 1967…thank you to the baseball world’s obsession with history for that one!).  He gave up 3 runs in 5 innings and the Sox lost the game 13-3.  The only reason I threw in the score was for my buddy Shane.  You’re welcome!  

Owens went on to make 11 starts for the rest of the season, followed by 5 starts in 2016.  Thus far, he has pitched 16 times for a 4-6 record with a 5.19 ERA, 1.52 WHIP and a K-per-inning rate of .84 (71 Strikeouts in 85 innings). Definitely not exciting numbers for a guy who was the No. 5 ranked prospect heading into 2013, No. 4 beginning the 2014 season and No. 2 prospect to start the 2015 season when he eventually made his debut.  

So how did he get there and what is the outlook like for him?

Owens is from Huntington Beach, CA where he was named named the Cal-Hi Sports Mr. Baseball State Player of the Year, Sunset League Pitcher of the year and Louisville Slugger High School All-American in 2011.  These accolades propelled him to be drafted 36th overall by the Red Sox that year.

Over the next few seasons, Owens would pitch in 120 games in the Minors as he progressed through the system, amassing 53 Wins and 31 Losses with a 3.35 ERA and 1.23 WHIP.  His K-per-inning rate was an impressive 1.08. In 2013, he was the Minor League leader in holding opponent batting average to .177 and had an ERA of 1.78 (his best of his career).  His two best strikeout totals were in 2014 with 126 in AA, and in 2016 with 135 in AAA.  

What have the scouting reports been for Henry Owens?  I am glad you asked:

• Profiles as a back end starter with a chance for more if he improves his fastball command and curveball. Development of curveball is key; relies heavily on fastball/changeup combination. Advanced feel for pitching.
• Very deceptive delivery; the ball comes out from behind his head and jumps on hitters due to the extension from his long limbs. Can struggle to repeat his mechanics from pitch-to pitch, leading to control issues. 
• While the stuff is certainly where it needs to be to get big league hitters out right now, the control and command are not…Fastball command is below-average, and the change and curveball are pitches that are much better when he’s ahead in the count

I find it so fascinating that someone with the success and pedigree of Henry Owens is seen as someone only able to fill the back end of a rotation.  Don’t get me wrong, that’s more than the vast majority of people who have ever picked up a baseball could hope for.  It’s more about where he started and where he is projected to end.  Very interesting to me. 

As for 2017, Owens is listed on the Red Sox 40-man roster, but not the active 25-man roster.  So he is starting the year at AAA Pawtucket, but is not scheduled to start any of their first five games as of the time of this writing.  Who knows what this season holds in store for the former California State player of the year? Maybe he finally solidifies his spot in a Major League rotation, maybe he jumps from being the seeming AAAA player and makes his name more widely known. 

Look of the Card:

The very first thing that sticks out on this card is the fact that there is a baseball in mid-flight after being released.  This is definitely a rare addition to Inception cards that I have seen so far in my research.  Honestly, I go back and forth with whether or not I like it’s presence there.  On one hand, it’s a little unique compared to the cards of other pitchers, but on the other hand it is a bit jarring/awkward to have this orb floating in the upper half of the card.  I don’t know.  I guess it’s at least interesting to take not of.

I can tell by the position of Owen’s hand in the picture that he appears to have just thrown a change-up, as evidenced by the extension of his pinky, ring and middle fingers and the close grip of the thumb and pointer finger.  I think that’s pretty cool since the scouting reports show that his change-up is really his money pitch; that’s something I would not have picked up on or cared about without this research!  Pay attention in school kids, you might learn something!

In truth, I crack up every time I look at this card.  The look on Owen’s face is just comical to me.  It’s not the intensity of De Leon or Berriors, it’s not the more relaxed look of some other guys.  His eyes are WIDE open.  It’s awesome, almost as if he is trying to distract the batter with an extra bit of whiteness while the ball travels to the plate.  

I have gone on record multiple times about enjoying the big initials in a signature, and Owens does not disappoint.  It’s easy to see the though process behind the big H that leads into the loopy Y at the end of Henry, which then leads into the big O that stands in for his whole last name.  It’s kind of a beautiful mess in my opinion.  It all fits nice and neat into the space created by his throwing hand, glove and front leg in the picture.  Well done by the artist of the card and by Henry for recognizing a perfect spot for his autograph!  

Card Value:

I tend to look at the market value of these Inception cards as glimpses into the overall belief in a player’s future.  It’s not hard to understand why guys like Carlos Correa, Byron Buxton and Kris Bryant all have held such high value with their Inception cards while guys like Matt Olson (see the post about him from a few weeks ago) do not.  Owens is another interesting case to me, sort of like Alen Hanson, because he has had an opportunity to make the Major League team. Here is the breakdown that I have seen:

Currently, there are nine listings of the base card for Owens on eBay, ranging from $1.99 to $11.99 for just the base.  There is a /99 parallel listed for $20, /25 parallel for $29.95 and a /150 parallel for an astounding $40.74 (note the /150 parallel is the easy outlier).

As far as sales go, there have been three total sales in last few months (admittedly all during the baseball off season), ranging from $1.50-$1.99.  Of note, a /99 parallel sold for $2.99 (compared to the one current listing of $20) and a /159 parallel sold for a whopping $0.99 (a little lower than the $40.74 asking price currently on eBay!).  The kicker, though, is that a base version relic/auto (similar to the George Springer cards I profiled last week) sold for 1 cent!  Crazy! 

COMC.com shows pretty similar market values with 11 base cards listed from $2.75-$5.  There is at least one card listed from the /150, /99 and /25 parallels.  Sales of the base card have been relatively limited compared to other cards I have looked at recently, with only 25 sold on the site since it’s release. 

And now for the winner of the Week 10 Inception Giveaway!  Thanks to everyone who RTed on Twitter on posted comments on the blog!  Since It was Week 10, I took the 10th name that I pulled out the hat.  That ended up being:

Jacob Stephens of @jstephens2482 fame!  Tune in next week for Brett Phillips!