Owen makes MLB debut with the Pittsburgh Pirates
A former member of the Swift Current 57’s made his Major League Baseball debut last week. Hunter Owen was selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates to the MLB roster on Tuesday after four seasons in the club’s minor league system.
Owen, 27, was a 25th-round pick of the Pirates in the 2016 MLB Draft. The Evansville, IN native played for the Swift Current Indians in the Western Major Baseball League in the summer of 2014 after his freshman season at Indiana State University.
Owen was a shortstop with the Tribe and was named a WMBL First-team All-star after batting .363 with 61 hits, 35 runs scored, and 29 runs batted in over 34 games.
Since then he has had had minor league stints with the West Virginia Black Bears (Short-season A), GLC Pirates (Rookie), Bradenton Marauders (Advanced A), Indianapolis Indians (AAA), and the Altoona Curve (AA).
In 2019, Owen played 110 games between Altoona and Indianapolis and compiled a .261 average with 19 home runs, 19 doubles, and 53 RBIS.
Owen has played six different positions during his minor league career, including 241 games at third base. He has played 56 games in the outfield, 19 at first base, three at catcher, and one at second base.
He started in right field and hit seventh for the Pittsburgh Pirates in a 4-2 loss to the host San Diego Padres on Wednesday. His debut came to an early conclusion when he was hit in the hand by a Yu Darvish pitch and had to be replaced in the line-up. Owen had struck out in his first two plate appearances against Darvish in front of 15,250 fans at Petco Park.
Owen is the second former member of the Swift Current franchise to make the jump to the big leagues this season after José Rojas made the Los Angeles Angels opening day roster.
Rojas has appeared in 21 games with the Angels this season and has seven doubles and four RBIS in 54 at-bats. He hit his first home run on Saturday, a three-run shot off the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Garrett Cleavinger.