Henry Owens, CL, Florida Marlins

May 15, 2007 @ 16:00:00

By Scott Ehrlich
Edited by Ryan Dodson

The Florida Marlins have been looking for a stable answer to their closer situation ever since their 2003 World Series victory. Armando Benitez took the money and ran off to San Francisco after one year. Todd Jones bolted back to the Motor City after 2005. Joe Borowski did some yeomen work there last season but headed out to Cleveland last offseason. This year, the Marlins latest one-year solution, Jorge Julio flopped when given the job, until he was dealt to Colorado for righty Byung-Hyun Kim. This gave the Marlins the opportunity to finally turn to a player that can be a long-term solution in that troublesome spot, right-hander Henry Owens. Unfortunately, Owens just went on the DL with inflammation in his shoulder. So who handles the ninth inning for the Marlins in the short term and long term?

Owens has had an interesting career path. The 28-year-old rookie was a backup catcher at Barry University in Miami before the Pittsburgh Pirates noticed his arm strength after signing him as an undrafted free agent and stuck him on the mound in 2001. He remained with Pittsburgh and pitched fairly well in a relief role before the New York Mets grabbed him with a pick in the Triple-A phase of the Rule V draft in 2004. After pitching well in 2005 for High-A St. Lucie, Owens took his game to another level last season, absolutely dominating at Double-A. After the season, he, along with another veteran minor league fireballer, Matt Lindstrom, were sent to Florida for two lefties, Jason Vargas and Adam Bostick.

Table: Henry Owens' Stats from 2005-2006

Year	Team	W-L	SV	IP	H	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2005	St. Lucie	2-5	4	54.1	49	24	74	3.15	1.34
2006	Binghamton	2-2	20	40	19	10	74	1.58	0.73
Total	--	4-2	24	94.1	68	34	148	2.49	1.09

So far, Florida should be very pleased with their end of the deal. While Bostick and Vargas have both struggled in Triple-A for the Mets, Lindstrom and Owens have become two of the better relievers for the Marlins. Both throw in the upper 90s, but Owens is much tougher to hit due to a deceptive delivery. This gave him first crack at the closer's role when Julio was mercifully put on the DL. So far, the early returns have been good, as Owens converted three of four save opportunities after Julio went down. He looked composed in that role, converting two of those opportunities without allowing a base runner.

As to who will take over the ninth inning in the short-term, the best bets are lefty Taylor Tankersley, the aforementioned Lindstrom and Kim. However, Tankersley is best suited for the lefty setup role, although he has been an effective closer when given a chance. Lindstrom throws much like another failed Marlins closer, St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Braden Looper, hard but straight, and should also end up a setup man. However, he could also notch a few saves in the next few weeks. Kim was the closer on the World Series champion Arizona Diamondbacks less than five years ago and is still just 28 years old. However, he has had just 16 saves since then and hasn't pitched in a month, making it difficult to imagine him being given the ninth inning any time in the next few months.

For the next few weeks, Tankersley is the safer bet due to less risk, but he and Lindstrom will likely both get a chance depending on matchups. It is possible that lefty Renyel Pinto and righty Kevin Gregg could also notch a cheap save or two, but they are not worth a roster spot. For the long-term, Owens has the best combination of guile, velocity and movement in the bullpen. Expect him to have first crack at the closer's job when he returns, and look for him to approach 25 saves.

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Scott Ehrlich

Scott Ehrlich has been involved with sports for the last four years. He spent parts of three seasons working with various minor league baseball teams and internet sports sites. In 2004 he hosted his own sports talk show on 790AM in South Florida, featuring guests from all four major sports. Scott currently resides in Ft. Lauderdale, FL but will be attending law school at the University of Florida in August, where he hopes to one day be the guy responsible for holding your favorite player out of training camp.

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