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Adam Loewen
Loewen pitching for the Baltimore Orioles on September 9, 2006.
Toronto Blue Jays — No. 17
Outfielder / First baseman
Born: April 9, 1984 (1984-04-09) (age 25) Surrey, British Columbia
Bats: Left	Throws: Left
MLB debut
May 23, 2006 for the Baltimore Orioles
Career statistics (through 2008 season)
Win-Loss	8-8
Earned run average	5.38
Strikeouts	134
Teams
Baltimore Orioles (2006-2008)

Adam Alexander Loewen (born April 9, 1984 in Surrey, British Columbia) is an outfielder and first baseman in the Toronto Blue Jays organization. He bats and throws left-handed. He was formerly a pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles.

Biography

Loewen grew up in Surrey, British Columbia, and was both a starting pitcher and first baseman for the team that represented Canada at the 1996 Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.^[1] He would go on to attend Fraser Valley Christian High School and play baseball for the Whalley Chiefs of the British Columbia Premier Baseball League. While playing for the Chiefs, Loewen was selected with the No. 4 overall pick of the 2002 Major League Baseball Draft by the Baltimore Orioles. As of 2008, this is the highest a Canadian player has ever been drafted.

Professional baseball career

Loewen went on to play one season with Chipola College, but signed a Major League Baseball contract with Baltimore worth $4.02 million shortly thereafter. In 2004, he was named their top prospect by Baseball America. However, by early 2006, he had been downgraded to the team's second best prospect.

Loewen garnered international attention on March 8, 2006, when he started for Canada against the star-studded United States team in the first round of the World Baseball Classic. In 3 2/3 shutout innings, Loewen held hitless such veteran American luminaries as Chipper Jones, Mark Teixeira, Vernon Wells, and Derrek Lee. He ended up earning the win as Canada won the game 8-6.

During the 2006 season, Loewen was called up by the Orioles. In his first four Major League starts, he faced former Cy Young Award winners: Randy Johnson, Tom Glavine and Roy Halladay twice. This made Loewen the first pitcher in Major League Baseball history to face Cy Young winners in his first four starts. He was injured early in the 2007 season, suffering a stress fracture to his pitching elbow and was later placed on the 15-day disabled list.

2008 season

Loewen began to develop control problems during spring training, where he led the Majors in walks, with 19 in just over 16 innings.^[2] His lack of control did not cease during the early stages of the regular season, and after experiencing soreness in his left arm throughout April, Loewen was placed on the disabled list and missed the next two months of the season. Although he was subsequently converted into a relief pitcher when he returned in July, he experienced a sharp pain in his surgically repaired elbow. This injury, diagnosed as a stress fracture, eventually caused him to prematurely end his season. Loewen announced on July 19 that he would no longer be a pitcher due to his chronic injuries, and that he will convert to an outfielder/first baseman.^[3]

Transition to position player

Due to the nature of his injury and his inability to remain as a pitcher, Loewen had the Orioles support when he made the decision to transition to a position player. His contract stipulated that he was required to remain with the big league club on its active roster at this stage in his career. As Loewen would need time in the minors to learn a new position and pick up batting experience, both sides agreed on October 20, 2008 that Loewen would be released from his contract. Both sides had talked about re-signing him to a minor league contract though no formal agreement was ever reached.^[4] The Orioles had hoped to develop Loewen to play at first base but were also actively in the market to sign free agent first basemen. Loewen reportedly received several offers from other teams, and signed a minor-league contract with the Toronto Blue Jays.^[5][6] After attending minor-league spring training with the Jays, Loewen was assigned to the Dunedin Blue Jays on April 9, 2009.^[7]

References

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
• The Last Word (profile)