Rudy C. Owens (born December 18, 1987) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. In 2014, he played for the Houston Astros in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB).

Career

Owens attended

Mesa High School Mesa High School is a public high school in Mesa, Arizona, United States. Mesa High School currently accommodates grades 9–12 as part of Mesa Public Schools. Mesa High School is the oldest high school in Mesa, Arizona, and is home of the Jackr ...

in Mesa, Arizona, where he played for the school's baseball team.

Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pittsburgh Pirates drafted Owens out of Mesa in the 28th round (830th overall) of the 2006 Major League Baseball Draft. After attending Chandler-Gilbert Community College for the 2007

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional p ...

season, he signed with the Pirates as a draft-and-follow prospect. In 2009, Owens was named a Class-A All-Star,

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

(SAL) All-Star, and SAL Most Outstanding Pitcher after going 10-1 with a 1.70 ERA in 19 games. He was also named the Pittsburgh Pirates' Minor League Pitcher of the Year. In 2010, Owens was named an Eastern League All-Star and was again named the Pirates' Minor League Pitcher of the Year. The Pirates added him to their 40 man roster after the 2011 season to protect him from the Rule 5 draft.

Houston Astros

On July 24, 2012, he was traded, along with

Robbie Grossman Robert Edward Grossman (born September 16, 1989) is an American professional baseball outfielder who is a free agent. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros, Minnesota Twins, Oakland Athletics, Detroit Tig ...

and Colton Cain, to the Astros for Wandy Rodríguez. He spent the rest of the 2012 season with the

Oklahoma City RedHawks Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New M ...

, the Astros' AAA affiliate, and remained with the team through 2013. On May 23, 2014, the Astros recalled Owens from AAA Oklahoma City to make his Major League debut against the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

. Owens was outrighted off the Astros roster on October 9, 2014.

Oakland Athletics

Owens signed a minor league deal with the Oakland Athletics in November 2014

Los Angeles Dodgers

Owens was traded to the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

on April 4, 2015. He pitched in 11 games across three levels for the Dodgers organization and was 0–4 with a 3.89 ERA. The Dodgers released him on July 16, 2015.

Colorado Rockies

Owens signed a minor league deal with the Colorado Rockies on July 25, 2015.

Somerset Patriots

On June 15, 2016, Owens signed with the

Somerset Patriots The Somerset Patriots are an American Minor League Baseball team based in Bridgewater Township, New Jersey, that is the Double-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. They compete in the Eastern League, known as the Double-A Northeast in 2021, and w ...

of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.

Fortitudo Baseball Bologna

On May 8, 2017, Owens signed with the

Fortitudo Baseball Bologna Fortitudo Baseball 1953, commonly referred to as Fortitudo Bologna, also known as UnipolSai Bologna for sponsorship reasons, is a baseball club based in Bologna that competes in Serie A1, Italy's professional baseball league. The team plays at ...

of the

Italian Baseball League The Italian Baseball League (IBL; Italian: ') is a professional baseball league that is governed by FIBS (Italian Baseball & Softball Federation), which has its headquarters in Rome. The IBL is a wood bat league in which both composite and alumi ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Owens, Rudy 1987 births Living people Sportspeople from Mesa, Arizona Baseball players from Arizona Major League Baseball pitchers Houston Astros players Chandler–Gilbert Coyotes baseball players Gulf Coast Pirates players State College Spikes players West Virginia Power players Lynchburg Hillcats players Altoona Curve players Indianapolis Indians players Oklahoma City RedHawks players Gigantes del Cibao players American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Oklahoma City Dodgers players Rancho Cucamonga Quakes players Tulsa Drillers players Albuquerque Isotopes players Somerset Patriots players Mesa High School alumni Toros del Este players American expatriate baseball players in Italy Fortitudo Baseball Bologna players