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Post by rnorton13 on Sept 11, 2012 9:56:45 GMT -5
I've been debating with a friend of mine on who we view as the better lefty in the Sox organization, Drake Britton or Henry Owens.
I like Britton:
Throws harder
Good downward plane on fastball
I personally like his frame/build more than Owens and think it's more sustainable in the bigs to add weight sort of like Lester.
Recently the reports are that his secondary stuff has taken a step back and that is troubling but I still think Britton is the better Lefty.
My friend likes Owens:
Commands zone better
Doesn't throw as hard as Britton
Owens is tall and lanky which is obviously helpful and causes the fastball to get on the hitters faster but I think he might struggle to put on the weight he needs to be someone to lean on for 200IP
Can someone please expand on this for me?
Thanks
Ryan
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Post by jsk793 on Sept 11, 2012 11:10:43 GMT -5
Well it depends if you are talking about right now, or for the future. Britton is more refined because he has had more seasoning, but if you are talking about potential it's not even close. Owens has possibly the most potential out of any pitcher in the sox system. Britton had a good bounce back year, and he may still be a starter, but he will more likely end up in the bullpen. Keep in mind that this was Owens first professional season. He will bulk up more in the offseason and as he goes up the organizational ladder and gets stronger his fastball will be faster. Id say it is definitely Owens. Britton is closer, but Owens has the chance to be special
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Post by okin15 on Sept 12, 2012 10:10:05 GMT -5
Of course, we were saying Britton had a shot at being special going into 2011. Owens has a lot more chance of busting than Drake does.
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Post by marti427 on Sept 12, 2012 12:19:09 GMT -5
A lot of people wonder about where Drake will end up in the long run but I wonder if Drake could have a bullpen mindset, he came in his first couple starts of the season due to rehab starters and pitched poorly, maybe it was just a fluke but I wonder if he is uncomfortable coming out of the pen. I may just be looking into it to much.
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steveofbradenton
Veteran
Watching Spring Training, the FCL, and the Florida State League
Posts: 1,823
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Post by steveofbradenton on Sept 12, 2012 13:08:46 GMT -5
I've seen Britton just once. I have no real feel on him, but I really like the demeanor of Henry Owens. Really good kid who everyone seems to like. I was somewhat surprised by his high K numbers early, but was probably more impressed during the 2nd half when he seemed to pitch slightly more to contact and cut down on his walks. My point? He made adjustments and showed some decent stamina for his 1st full professional season. I only see him getting better. I like that he has a "feel" for pitching to go with a nasty breaking ball. Wouldn't be surprised if he was in our rotation in 2015.
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Post by remember04 on Sept 12, 2012 13:58:26 GMT -5
Of course, we were saying Britton had a shot at being special going into 2011. Owens has a lot more chance of busting than Drake does. We were? I certainly wasn't. I always thought he had a chance to be an Alan Embree type reliever or an okay number 5 starter. The chances of him developing to say a number 2 or 3 were there but were very very slim. I don't want to speak for anybody else but I think most on the site felt the same way. Owens may have ace potential (my definition of an ace is one of the best 30 pitchers in MLB and the head of your pitching staff) even if it is a longshot. I don't think anybody sees or saw that in Britton. Owens conceivable worst case scenario right now is probably a number 4 or 5 starter. Yes either one could bust completely and Owens since he's farther away has a higher chance of that than Britton but if I have to choose one of them to have in the system its clearly Owens. |
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Post by Chris Mellen on Sept 12, 2012 19:10:57 GMT -5
Owens may have ace potential (my definition of an ace is one of the best 30 pitchers in MLB and the head of your pitching staff) even if it is a longshot. I don't think anybody sees or saw that in Britton. Owens conceivable worst case scenario right now is probably a number 4 or 5 starter. I obviously like Owens, he's ranked 9th on the Site, and feel he can project on the starter path, but I think you're high with the low end for him. Ending up a reliever is the low end. Owens presently has good raw stuff, not great raw stuff. He's a lot of projection too. Outside of his fastball, which I think gets underrated by some in the industry, the other pieces of his arsenal are below-average and his command is sub-par. He is very crude overall. Likely a level a year guy, maybe a step back mixed in, and having a longer development curve since the physical gains are big for him too. The projection is for Owens' to grow into his stuff, get more crisp with his delivery to enhance the command, add weight, and learn how to pitch. Lot of moving parts to come together. There's a lot to like and he made progress this season for sure. When scouting him though, he's a guy your projecting for the raw stuff to be better in his mid-20s, in addition to polishing it. |
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Post by raftsox on Sept 13, 2012 4:10:48 GMT -5
When Britton was drafted everyone thought Lester 2.0. Big lefty with a plus fastball and plus curve, he only had to develop his 3rd pitch. At the time it was thought he was a future rotation horse. After his injury and step back the prognosis changed significantly. I've been either driving the Britton wagon or shooting at bandits from it, at this point his chance to remain a starter for a team like the Red Sox is almost nil.
Owens has more of a chance at this point in time, but a lot of his projection stems from him adding velocity, there's hope that he can with additional mass and technique refinement, but there's no guarantee that he ever has a better fastball than average.
It'll be fun watching both of them (and Kukuk) develop. My hope with Britton is that he's successful in the rotation next year and gets a fill in start or two in Boston. He would probably be rotation material in '14 with the chance to move into the rotation in '15. The others i just want to see steady progress from.
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