Owen Hoegh had hoped to get a call on day two of the 2004 Draft. Instead, the
phone stayed silent and he looked to keep busy by signing with the local Sioux
Falls Canaries of the Northern League. Hoegh put up decent numbers after a tough
start at Sioux Falls and the Phillies finally called in mid-September.
Hoegh set six school records this past season and was named to the All
North-Central Conference Team, pitching Augustana to a berth in the conference
tournament.
With Sioux Falls, Hoegh went 0-0, 4.26 in 19 relief appearances with the
Canaries. The numbers were sort of ruined by a bad start. Over the final six
weeks of the season, Hoegh posted a 2.40 ERA and struck out 14 hitters. On the
season, he struck out 18 hitters in 25 1/3 innings.
| Year / Team |
W |
L |
ERA |
SV |
G |
IP |
H |
BB |
KO |
| 2004 Sioux Falls (independent) |
0 |
0 |
4.26 |
0 |
19 |
25.1 |
31 |
15 |
18 |
Pitching: Hoegh is somewhat of a work horse. He set season records in
wins (8), innings (81) and strikeouts (78) in 2004 at Augustana. He also holds
the school career mark in those categories with 20 wins, 236 innings and 209
strikeouts. It took him a little while to adjust to the better level of
competition in the Northern League, but he did make the adjustment and the
Phillies saw enough to sign him to a minor league deal.
Projection: It's very possible that Hoegh will stay in extended spring
training next season. From there, he'll head out likely to Batavia to officially
begin his professional career. He's a left-hander who can throw a good amount of
innings, but he's going to have a lot to learn since he didn't face the cream of
the crop in college hitters or in the Northern League. The potential is there.
ETA: There really isn't an established timetable for Hoegh. Needless
to say, he needs work and nobody truly knows how long it will take him to pick
up what he will need to learn for the future.