Red Sox prospect Henry Owens to make first MLB start Tuesday

Boston Red Sox prospect Henry Owens will be called up to make his first MLB start on Tuesday against the New York Yankees.

Boston Red Sox prospect Henry Owens will be called up to make his first MLB start on Tuesday against the New York Yankees, manager John Farrell told reporters Sunday.

Owens was a first-round pick in the 2011 MLB draft and was ranked as one of the top 50 prospects in the game by a variety of publications. The 6'6" lefthander has a 3.16 ERA with 103 strikeouts and 56 walks in 122 1/3 innings. He will be the first Red Sox starter to pitch his first MLB game at Yankee Stadium since 1997.

“It’s going to be probably the biggest stage that he’s going to make his debut on that the schedule has it,” Farrell said, according to NESN.com. “But ideally having another left-hander go against that lineup in that ballpark.”

Farrell also added that Owens has improved his command of late. 

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Owens has a fastball that ranges from 88 to 92 mph and “succeeds more with deception than velocity because batters struggle to pick up the ball out of his hand,” Baseball America’s Vince Lara-Cinisomo wrote last August. 

The Yankees will also be debuting a top pitching prospect during this week’s series against Boston. Luis Severino, MLB.com’s No. 16 prospect in baseball, will make his first major-league start on Wednesday. 

- Dan Gartland