PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – An exclusion from the alt site prospect group in 2020, the Pirates Hunter Owen contemplated his future as he worked as a starter at Stony Creek Golf Club in Fishers, Indiana. He also went back to school to attempt to finish a sports management degree.
Tonight, after not playing a real game in nearly two years. Owen starts in right field against the Padres.
"If you would have told me I would face Yu Darvish a few years later," Owen said Wednesday. "I would have called you a liar."
Owen hits seventh in the lineup Wednesday night coming off 19 homers combined in AA and AAA in his last year of action, 2019. The right-handed hitter has the flexibility to play left, third base and even catch in a pinch. He was a catcher at Indiana State.
Traveling with the taxi squad, Pirates bench coach Donnie Kelly told him to come meet with Derek Shelton Tuesday. He thought it was a joke. Even being around the team, he thought it was far-fetched that he would get a shot.
Then as he realized, Owen said his face turned numb.
You can imagine what this nearly 28-year-old was thinking trying to figure out what the new Pirates brass thought of him a year ago, leaving him out of the group of prospects. A 25th round pick from non-Power five Indiana State, Owen had to be wondering if they even knew he existed. Now to be finally getting an opportunity.
"It was very frustrating to be my age and not go to the alternate site," Owen said of last year. "I just kind of kept my head up and kept plugging along and I was hoping something good would happen. The good Lord willing it did."
The good news really started in the winter after getting a call to join the big league group at Spring Training. He had worked out at the AAA Indianapolis facility, eventually buying an automatic feeder machine to take live pitches so he could improve. He would then leave that machine for the team to use. He also spent some time out west getting ready.
"The comfort level was there in Spring Training," Owen said. "I had the opportunity to go to Arizona and face a lot of really good arms in a facility down there, including (Dodgers ace) Trevor Bauer. We hit live off him quite a bit."
"Going into spring it wasn't completely foreign, just being able to get that big league atmosphere and meet big league players was a huge thing for me."
If all goes well, Owen will get his degree in December. If all goes better, he won't be using it for a while.
"Just a dream come true," Owen said. "It's a culmination of a lot of hard work. I had a lot of help from a lot of people growing up. A dream come true to be able to step on a big league field today."
