LNG
Owen White, P
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Scouting report
White made his first career start in affiliated ball nearly three years after he was drafted, then promptly went on the IL with a fractured hand. He was handled with kid gloves the summer after he was drafted, blew out the next year, had 2020 wiped away by the pandemic, then made a start and broke his hand. The good news is that it isn't a scary arm injury and instead was a freak thing. White has looked fantastic when healthy, sitting 93-95, locating a consistently above-average curveball, and displaying nascent feel for a mid-80s changeup during my 2018 instructs look and again during 2021 spring training. He has a big, projectable frame, is an above-average on-mound athlete, and his arm action is loose and mechanically efficient. While the shutdown impacted Texas' oversight of his rehab, White's big league timeline was less affected by the shutdown than most minor leaguers' since he was always going to spend most of the year rehabbing. When healthy, he had several significant components already in place (velocity, fastball movement, breaking ball quality) and White's other traits (changeup proclivity, athleticism, and feel for location) indicate he's poised to grow and develop into a well-rounded arm. He's a mid-rotation pitching prospect despite the lack of on-paper track record and I felt comfortable moving White back into the 45s after seeing where his velo was this spring. The way his workload limits coming off of so much missed time interact with his 40-man timeline and early-career role arguably makes this too aggressive.