Rudy Owens.

by piratefan1 on Jul 2, 2009 9:20 PM EDT

The guy is 9-1 in West Virginia with only a 1.90 era. He has only walked 11 guys over 80.2 innings while striking out 75, and he has not allowed an earned run in his past 4 starts. Does anyone know when this guy will get a promotion to at least Lynchburg to see what he can do there. He's only 21 years old, so I think he has some potential.

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Yeah, I have no idea what he’s still doing down there. Unless there’s something we don’t know, he has nothing left to prove in low-A ball.

www.sixtyftsixin.com

by Sixty Feet, Six Inches on Jul 2, 2009 9:22 PM EDT reply actions

he has done all he can do

including throwing out eh ceremonal first pitch in the sally league all-star game, I know I was there to see it

by WVPiratesfan on Jul 2, 2009 9:47 PM EDT reply actions

True Story

I was there too.

by McCutchenIsTheTruth on Jul 2, 2009 11:39 PM EDT reply actions

rob king

brought this very topic up in a recent pregame interview with kyle stark. kyle said that they generally don’t concern themselves with any kind of aggressive promoting until the end of a player’s first full season of pro ball, and in that first year they instead focus on steady improvement and finishing the season healthy.

that still doesn’t really explain why a guy who is clearly slamming his head on the WV ceiling (27 straight scoreless now) hasnt been moved up, but its worth noting anyway

by geeves on Jul 3, 2009 12:41 AM EDT reply actions

I guess

But I don’t feel like High A is too much of a promotion to ask. He’s not going to learn anything by dominating Low A pitching at this point.

www.sixtyftsixin.com

by Sixty Feet, Six Inches on Jul 3, 2009 1:32 AM EDT up reply actions

27?

I’m gonna guess that he’ll be promoted after the scoreless streak ends. They don’t want to end a streak like that, even if it’s a good thing to promote him.

by H2O on Jul 5, 2009 12:58 PM EDT up reply actions

Promoting Pitchers

doesn’t seem like a big jump compared to promoting hitters.

Hitters face better pitching and are shown better pitches (having to adjust to better breaking balls, etc.). Pitchers need to get more polished, and they need to improve their pitches, but facing better hitters isn’t necessary IMO.

If they are worried about him getting injured, I don’t see why that would make a difference between Low A and High A.

I say promote him, but what do I know?

by steelcity22 on Jul 3, 2009 2:03 PM EDT reply actions

That's part of it, but

if you’re facing batters that you can simply throw your fastball by, you’re going to do that whenever you’re in trouble. Promoting pitchers forces them to work on their command, off-speed stuff and choice of pitches because that’s the only way to succeed.

by DialedtoGiles on Jul 3, 2009 3:36 PM EDT up reply actions