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Michael Bowden Will Make His Major League Debut Tomorrow Night
By Administrator | August 29, 2008
Last year it was Clay Buchholz… earlier this year it was Justin Masterson… and tomorrow night it will be Michael Bowden.
They are all young Red Sox pitching prospects who progressed from Double-A to Triple-A to the major leagues in the span of a few months… this evening, the Red Sox officially announced that Bowden will make his major league debut tomorrow night at Fenway Park against the Chicago White Sox.
SOX1FANation photo
While he will be younger than either Buchholz and Masterson were on the day of their debuts, there are many in the organization (and around baseball) who believe he has a higher ceiling.
Those of you who read this website with any regularity know that I am especially enamored of Clay Buchholz, and that I believe he has as much potential as any young pitcher in any organization in baseball… his raw ability and repertoire of pitches are going to make him a STAR (in my opinion).
So you can just imagine how good Bowden will be if the folks in the organization are right about him having the highest ceiling among the trio. While he does not appear to have Buchholz’ repertoire, he probably has better control at this point and has a bulldog mentailty on the mound.
The one thing I know with certainty is that both guys are among the nicest young men you will ever meet. I have met each of them on a couple of occasions and interviewed them, and they were both incredible to deal with. [The same can be said for current Sox SS Jed Lowrie]
Bowden dominated at Portland (Double-A) before being promoted to Pawtucket (Triple-A). While he was only 0-3 in seven appearances (six starts) with the PawSox, that fact is more an indictment of the PawSox offense than a reflection of his performance… he has compiled a 3.88 ERA against Triple-A opponents. He LOST two different 1-0 games.
Last winter I protested the Red Sox should NOT have acquired Twins southpaw Johan Santana at the cost of ANY combination of Jacoby Ellsbury, Jon Lester, Buchholz, Masterson, Lowrie and Bowden. In response, several readers left comments on this site which could not be published… let’s just say they thought I was taking hallucinogens. Coming into the season, Red Sox Nation knew why I opposed the includion of Buchholz, Ellsbury or Lester in trade talks… as this season has progressed, RSN has begun to see what I saw in Lowrie and Masterson last year… and beginning tomorrow night, RSN will be able to witness the wonder of Michael Bowden.
Three or four years from now, when Santana has begun to decline and we are enjoying the exploits of the Sox players listed above, we will thank our lucky stars that the Twins accepted the Mets offer… I still think we offered far more than the Mets offered and that the Twins made a BAD decision.
Time will tell.
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When Bowden makes his appearance tomorrow night, he will be the fifth and last of the Red Sox top five picks from the 2005 draft to make his debut with the Red Sox: Ellsbury (1st rd, #23 overall), Craig Hansen (1st rd, #26 overall), Buchholz (supplemental, #42 overall), Lowrie (supplemental, #45 overall), and Bowden (supplemental, #47 overall).
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You will find my three-part interview with Michael Bowden at the following links:
Part I, published July 15th
Part II, published July 16th
Part III, published August 1st
Topics: Sox Prospects |
