South Side Sox Top Prospect No. 99: Noah Owen

Noah Owen
Right-Handed Starting Pitcher
6´4´´
200 pounds
Age: 22
2022 SSS Top Prospect Ranking 55
2022 High Level Kannapolis (Low-A)
Age relative to high level -0.7 years
SSS rank among all right-handed starting pitchers in the system 21
Overall 2022 stats 5-10 ⚾️ 23 games (19 starts) ⚾️ 106 1⁄3 IP ⚾️ 5.16 ERA ⚾️ 1.476 WHIP ⚾️ 83 K ⚾️ 32 BB

Noah Owen was a well-traveled collegian, playing ball for different schools in each of his three years. A native of Oceanside, Calif., he participated in the Alaska Summer League in 2018 and posted a 4.13 ERA and 1.55 WHIP in 10 appearances for the Peninsula Oilers. He struggled as a freshman for the University of San Diego in 2019, as he posted a 5.91 ERA and 1.83 WHIP during his 13 outings (three starts). He pitched one inning for Cal-Santa Barbara as a sophomore in 2020 before the pandemic shut down his season.

Finally, he pitched in seven games (six starts) in the 2021 season for Golden West CC (Huntington Beach, Calif.). In 40 innings for the Rustlers, Owen posted a 3.15 ERA and 1.20 WHIP as he ceded 41 hits and seven walks while striking out 49. He caught the eye of some White Sox scouts, and was selected in the 14th round of the year’s draft by the White Sox and awarded a $125,000 bonus.

In eight outings (three starts) for the ACL Sox in 2021, Owen acquitted himself nicely by posting a 2.00 ERA and 0.83 WHIP. In his 18 innings, he surrendered just 12 hits (.176 OBA) and three walks (4.2%) while fanning an impressive 25 (35.2%).

With an age-appropriate move up to Kannapolis in 2022, things didn’t go so well for Owen. he won his first three starts and began the year 4-0 overall, but from there his ERA shot past 4.00 and never settled back down. And with numerous games of five-plus earned runs coming throughout the season, his final numbers weren’t the product of just a bad start or two, or running out of gas in August.

Owen’s Baseball Cube player ratings
Walks 71
K/BB 64
Hittable 56
vs. Power 56
Durability 52
Strikeouts 50
Team Winning Percentage .529

Baseball America said that Owen’s fastball touches 93, but it usually sits about 2-3 ticks lower. With that said, he certainly has a projectable build which could eventually lead to greater velocity. However, Owen’s big weapon is his curveball, which BA described as “a hammer of a pitch that approaches 3000 rpm.”

Owen was nearly a year younger than his Low-A competition, which means that his step back in 2022 can be tempered somewhat. He needs to establish another reliable pitch, making him a more viable starter in a wide-open White Sox system. If not, Owen has the potential to rise through the system a bit more quickly as a reliever. In the meantime, he should begin the 2023 season with Kannapolis, with a quick ticket to Winston-Salem if he can string several strong efforts to start the season.

2023 South Side Sox Top 104 White Sox Prospects

99. Noah Owen, RHSP
100. Javier Mora, 2B
101. Will Kincanon, RHRP
102. Yohemy Nolasco, RHSP
103. Billy Seidl, RHRP
104. José Rodulfo, RHRP