Jason Mastrodonato of The Boston Herald believes that Owens is the man to possibly fill the role as the fifth starter in the pitching rotation: “If it wasn’t enough that Owens held opponents to a .628 OPS in his final five starts last season, which placed him in the top-10 among American League starters during that time, or that every time he allowed multiple runs he then followed it up by allowing one or zero runs in the very next start, the 23-year-old lefty is now one year stronger.”
Mastrodonato followed that up by stating that “manager John Farrell hinted that there might be a competition for that fifth and final spot in the rotation, originally expected to be held by [Joe] Kelly.