Orioles Card "O" the Day

An intersection of two of my passions: baseball cards and the Baltimore Orioles. Updated daily?

Saturday, August 8, 2015

Adam Loewen, 2004 Donruss Diamond Kings #88

The Phillies have recalled Adam Loewen from AAA Lehigh Valley...yes, that Adam Loewen. It's hard to keep track of these things, but he's a pitcher again, albeit a reliever now. If the lefty gets into a game with Philadelphia, he'll have one of the more unusual career stat sheets in MLB history. The O's drafted him fourth overall in 2002, and his Baltimore tenure was marred by injuries and a metric ton of walks. In parts of three seasons (2006-2008), he was 8-8 with a 5.38 ERA and 5.8 walks per nine innings. He converted to the outfield and first base to preserve his arm, and signed with the Blue Jays. He got a cup of coffee with Toronto in 2011, batting .188/.297/.313 in 14 games with a single home run...off of Tommy Hunter of the Orioles, of course. He's been kicking around the minors ever since, and was able to pitch without pain in the Venezuelan winter league following the 2013 season. The Phillies signed him, and he's posted a 2.01 ERA and 10 saves in 58.1 innings between AA Reading and AAA Lehigh Valley in 2015. He's also struck out 73 batters, but walked 37. But hey, the Phillies are going nowhere fast, and Adam's got a left arm and a pulse, so it'll be interesting to see what he can do in the third act of his career.

2 comments:

Rob said...

lol - when I saw this news I thought, "huh, I wonder if he'll get Orioles Card O The Day honors..."

Kevin said...

Yeah, thanks to overzealous prospect-hounding by mid-2000s card companies (and a lack of viable young players in Baltimore), I've got plenty of Adam Loewen cards. Might as well put them to use.