Baltimore Orioles left-handed pitcher and five-time Baseball Canada national team member Adam Loewen (Surrey, B.C.) made his major league debut, last night, picking up a hold in a 14-4 win over the Seattle Mariners.
The 6’5”, 230-pound 22-year-old was expected to split time between the Double-A Bowie Bay Sox and Triple-A Ottawa Lynx this year, but was called up to Orioles after fellow pitching prospect Hayden Penn underwent an emergency appendectomy, Monday.
With little time to prepare on only three days rest after having thrown six-innings with one hit for an Eastern League win over the Trenton Thunder, Loewen was sent 4490 kilometres from Bowie Maryland, on the Eastern seaboard to Seattle Washington on the West coast to face the heart of the Mariners’ batting order (Richie Sexson, Carl Everett and Adrian Beltre) in only the third relief appearance of his entire professional career.
Loewen froze Sexson on a called third strike before walking Everett, hitting Beltre and giving up an RBI-single to Kenji Johjima. Loewen got in 13 pitches and picked up a hold before being replaced by Todd Williams with one out in the bottom of the sixth.
With the second-worst team ERA in the major leagues and five pitchers from its 40-man roster currently on the disabled list, the Orioles may keep Loewen with the parent club and work him into the starting rotation.
“I haven’t been told anything, so I’m just going to play it by ear right now,” Loewen told MLB.com reporter Spencer Fordin before last night’s game. “Obviously, I’m totally excited to be here. I can’t wait to get on the field and contribute as much as I can.”
Before being promoted to the majors, Loewen boasted a 4-2 record with a 2.72 ERA and 55 strikeouts in 49.2 innings of work this season. In the first Double-A game of his career, Loewen threw an eight-inning one hitter and struck out 12 without a walk against the Reading Phillies on April 21.
Eight Days later, he gave up only four hits in seven innings in a no decision against the Portland Sea Dogs. On May 9, Loewen struck out 11 in only six innings for a win over the New Britain Rock Cats.
Loewen also led Team Canada to an 8-6 upset of the Americans at the World Baseball Classic’s U.S. EH! Game by throwing 3.2 shutout innings and allowing only three hits while walking three.
He is also the highest-ever draft pick in Canadian history, being selected fourth overall by the Orioles in the 2002 MLB entry draft.
Loewen joins catcher Russell Martin (Chelsea, Qué.) as the only Canadian rookies currently in the majors. Martin is off to a hot start, batting .309 with 10 RBI, 10 runs scored, a pair of doubles and one homerun in 16 games with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
