The Paul Owens award goes to the Phillies’ minor league players of the year, one a position player, the other a pitcher. It’s named after the famed general manager and manager of the team, one who led
them to the 1983 World Series and helped find a lot of the foundation for the 1980 World Series champion. This year’s recipients are interesting.
Otto Kemp, prior to his coming up to Philadelphia, was hitting quite well in Lehigh Valley. His arrival didn’t make a huge impact that maybe his numbers would have suggested, but he has become a solid bench player.
Griff McGarry would be considered a success story since he was basically left behind as a prospect. He was taken off the 40-man roster, left exposed to the Rule 5 draft, wasn’t taken, went back to the lower levels….and has gotten better. This was from the team’s emailed announcement:
McGarry, 26, went 2-5 with a 3.44 ERA (32 ER, 83.2 IP) and a 1.22 WHIP across 21 starts with single-A Clearwater (3), double-A Reading (17) and Lehigh Valley (1) this season. He recorded 124 strikeouts to 49 walks and held opposing hitters to a .180 (53-294) batting average. McGarry struck out 13.34 batters per 9.0 innings pitched and had a 35.1 (124-353) percent strikeout rate. Among Eastern League pitchers with at least 70.0 innings pitched, the right-hander ranked second in both strikeouts per 9.0 innings pitched (12.88) and strikeout rate (33.9%). Following a stint on the injured list from April 21-June 18, the San Francisco native ranked second in the EL in strikeouts (87) and fourth in opponent’s batting average (.197) in 14 starts through the end of the season for the Fightin Phils. A non-roster invitee to spring training this year, McGarry was the only pitcher in the EL this season to have at least 11 strikeouts in consecutive games (Aug. 7-13). He was named EL Pitcher of the Week twice (March 31-April 6 and Aug. 11-17) as well as Phillies Minor League Pitcher of the Month for August. McGarry was selected by the Phillies in the fifth round of the 2021 MLB Draft and was signed by Kellan McKeon.
Congrats to both players on the award.
