Loewen and McGowan: what's their scoop?

[YogiStewart]

Sorry, but Ozwald took down the spring training thread

those who were following spring training closely:

what's the scoop with Adam Loewen? I see that he was optioned to AAA, but does he have a legitimate chance at making the majors?

And what ended up happening with Dustan McGowan?

[WpgPage]

I could see Loewen getting a September look if he preforms well in LV this year, Dustin is on the 60 day DL I think they were looking at July for when he might get into his first rehab games.

[youreachiteach]

Loewen got some excellent praise from the Jay's manager--you can hear it on Wilner's blog on the fan 590. (I think it's one of the last two he posted.)

Basically, they said he's a great toolsy player who has impressed the staff quite a bit. My guess would be he's a September call up this year with a chance to make the club next. In fact, could see him earlier if there are injuries to the outfield.

McGowan is pitching on a very conservative program but hasn't had any setbacks, He is on the 60 day d.l. and is now looked at as a reliever long term (if at all). He's got a shot, but last I heard he was only throwing at like 80% so...I guess we'll hear more if he continues to stay healthy and kicks ass down on his training stint (if he makes it that far).

[Schad]

Loewen is somewhat unlikely to stick in the bigs as a hitter. He has good patience, but he's a strikeout machine; at just a couple days short of 27, he's going to have to explode in a big way if he's to be in line for a call-up.

As Wpg mentioned, McGowan is months away; best case is probably that he can get in some relief work in late August/September, but it's quite possible that we've seen him pitch his last in a Jays uniform, sadly.

[LittleOzzy]

Haha just because it's not stickied doesn't mean you can't post in it.

[Mike Hunt]

I like the thought of a Loewen comeback to the bigs. The Ankiel thing wass impressive enough but if Loewen did it, that'd almost be a trend. A lot of people forget that most of these guys are natural athletes that were often the best pitchers/hitters on their teams but were forced to give up on hitting in order to focus on their pitching.

I remember an interview with one of the big Canadian players (Morneau or Bay), where they talked about Loewen. The player mentioned Loewen asking him for hitting tips and he said something like: "5 years ago, you were a better hitter than me, just do that". Loewen is not finding a new tool, but rather, he's looking to regain something he's lost. I think that makes a successful comeback more plausible.