Baseball Bae of the Day: Henry Owens

Warning: This is probably going to be my favorite baseball bae post ever because this is one of my good friends from high school.

I present our featured baseball star of the week, Henry Cole Owens, 23, hailing from Huntington Beach, CA. Henry and I have been friends since high school and he has proven himself to be one of the most humbled and most talented players I have ever met and seen pitch.

Owens, comes in hot at 6'6 and throws left and bats left. His primary position pitcher. He earned the Cal-Hi Sports Mr. Baseball State Player of the Year Award in 2011, after posting a 12–1 record with a 1.15 earned run average (ERA) and three saves, while striking out 140 batters in 91⅔ innings of work.

He also was named a 2011 Louisville Slugger High School All-American and earned 2011 Sunset League Pitcher of the Year honors for the second consecutive year. Straight out of high school, the Boston Red Sox selected Owens in the first round of the 2011 MLB Draft.

Henry made his professional debut in 2012 with the Greenville Drive of the Class A South Atlantic League (SAL), sporting a 12–5 record and a 4.87 ERA in 23 games, including 130 strikeouts and 47 walks in 101⅔ innings. In addition, he finished fourth in the SAL for the most strikeouts, while tying for fourth in wins. Entering 2013, Henry was ranked as the eighth best prospect in the Red Sox organization and ranked 77th in the MLB.com Top 100 Prospects list. He features a 91–93 miles per hour (146–150 km/h) fastball and a 77–80 miles per hour changeup.

In 2013, Henry was promoted to the Salem Red Sox of the Class A-Advanced Carolina League. On July 17, he struck out a season-high tying 10 in six inning, while combining with Matty Ott and Matt Price to deliver the first no-hitter in franchise history in a 6–0 win over the Frederick Keys.

Upon promotion to Portland, Henry went 3–1 with a 1.78 ERA, striking out 46 in just 30⅓ innings over six starts. He was a Carolina League All-Star, as well as SoxProspects.com's 2013 Pitcher of the Year. Additionally, he made the Baseball America Minor League All-Star Team. He started the 2014 season by pitching a rain-shortened six inning no-hitter. Making 20 starts in Portland, Owens compiled a record of 14–4 with 3 complete games. He pitched 121 innings, struck out 126 batters with an earned run average of 2.60. He was promoted to the Pawtucket Red Sox of the Class AAA International League on August 2, 2014.

Boston Red Sox manager John Farrell made it official after Sunday's 4-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays: Henry will make his major-league debut THIS Tuesday night against the New York Yankees!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Henry will become the eighth rookie Red Sox pitcher since 1914 to begin his big-league career as a starter in Yankee Stadium. The last Sox rookie to debut at Yankee Stadium was the obscure Robinson Checo, who gave up four runs in 4 1/3 innings on Sept. 16, 1997. The last left-hander was a nearly-as-obscure Vaughan Eshelman, who pitched six shutout innings in an 8-0 victory over the Yankees on May 2, 1995.

On a non baseball related note, here are a couple things about Henry you might not know.

1. He has the cutiest pup named Sarah.

2. His talents go farther than just throwing the baseball, he's really good at playing guitar.

3. When we are all in a car together, it's like an episode of the Brady Bunch because we sing like a choir. He loves music and it loves him back.

And lastly, he's probably the funniest guy I know. He's someone that has the type of personality that just lights up a room and essentially makes you laugh until you can't breathe.

As most of my friends flew out to New York this morning to support him for tomorrow's game, we will be celebrating with you in spirit and rooting you on from your hometown!!!!!!