Owens' fastball velocity was on the pedestrian side in this outing, but the tall left-hander used his body well to consistently throw downhill when delivering the offering. Throughout the start, he stayed on top of the ball and was able to replicate his release point with the majority of his heaters. This enabled Owens to throw to spots in the lower tier of the strike zone, where the plane he created forced hitters to get on top of the ball.

While the pitcher did get some swings-and-misses when elevated with his fastball, I don't see the pitch being effective in this area against big league hitters. Owens is deceptive overall, with the ball seaming to jump out of his body at the last instance, but he's likely to get hurt often working in this area. I do have some concerns about how the fastball is going to play if this was a peak representation of the command.

Owens' changeup showed as his best pitch in this outing. There's plenty of fastball guise, and hitters consistently swung over the top of it. My feel is that this offering will continue to play as the lefty advances further. The deception, along with the separation in velocity, will force even the better of hitters to commit early. Owens' sprinkled his curveball in towards the end of the start, and I'm not big on the present look of the pitch. The lack of power will give major league hitters a chance to recover even when they have committed early.

Owens will need to demonstrate solid-average-to-plus command of his fastball on a consistent basis to fully reach his ceiling. In this outing, it looked like the pitcher was focusing hard on finishing his delivery and working down in the zone. The execution showed. There is a finer margin of error here given the profile of the overall repertoire. On nights when Owens' fastball is just a bit off, it is likely to be difficult. I see the prospect over the long-haul projecting towards the back of a rotation, where he can provide a lot of innings and value as a reliable, complimentary piece of a good staff.