Owen Holt transferred from Harvard in 2020 to Alvin Community College in 2021. After struggling in 2021 he headed off to the MLB Draft League and pitched in 11 games for Williamsport and posted a 4.30 ERA with four walks and 18 strikeouts in 14.2 innings. That helped lead to the Cincinnati Reds selecting him in the 16th round of the draft. He would then pitch 7.0 innings in Arizona with the ACL Reds before the season ended.
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When the 2022 season got started the Cincinnati Reds sent Owen Holt to Daytona where he joined the Tortugas bullpen. His first outing saw him allow a run in 2.0 innings against St. Lucie. That was the last run he would allow for more than two months. From April 10th through June 21st he threw 19.1 shutout innings while allowing just 10 hits (and just one extra-base hit – a double) to go along with 21 strikeouts.
After Jupiter broke the scoreless streak on June 22nd, the righty pitched in five games over the next six weeks before he would wind up on the injured list. Holt missed the first two weeks of August before returning on the 16th with 1.2 perfect innings. Four days later he made his final appearance with Daytona, giving up three runs in2.0 innings and allowing just the second home run against him on the season.
Five days later Holt would make his first appearance with the High-A Dayton Dragons. He would allow a run in 1.1 innings against Quad Cities. Five days after that he would give up a run against Cedar Rapids in a 2-inning appearance. In a doubleheader on September 4th he tossed a shutout inning – also against Cedar Rapids. The final game of the year for Holt saw him strike out three batters in 3.0 perfect innings against Lansing.
For all 2022 Season Reviews and Scouting Reports – click here (these will come out during the week throughout the offseason).
Owen Holt Scouting Report
Position: Right-handed pitcher | B/T: R/R
Height: 6′ 3″ | Weight: 225 lbs | Acquired: 16th Round, 2021 Draft
Born: April 22, 1999
Fastball | The pitch works in the 91-94 MPH range and topped out at 96 MPH.
Change Up | An above-average pitch that works in the mid-80’s.
Slider | An average pitch that flashes above-average, working in the low 80’s.
There’s a lot to like about Owen Holt. He took big strides from his time in college to his first full season as a professional, easily performing better on the mound than he had ever done prior.
Holt pounded the strikezone in 2022, throwing strikes 67% of the time. He was able to limit hits, and he limited power, giving up just two home runs on the season. He showed slight ground ball tendencies, but nothing that stood out in that regard.
With a solid fastball and two potential above-average pitches, Owen Holt profiles well as a reliever. He’s going to have to continue to show he can remain consistent as he moves up the ladder, but all of the pieces are there for him to potentially move quickly starting in 2023.
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Interesting Stat on Owen Holt
He dominated right-handed hitters, holding them to a .177/.257/.235 line on the season. Lefties found more success, but they weren’t exactly successful as they hit .220/.303/.356 against him.
Have to wonder about the movement of that change up. Guessing it’s pretty good.
I first heard about Holt last year, and wondered why a guy apparently transferred from Harvard to Alvin Community College. I found this excellent story from The Harvard Crimson. https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2021/9/30/Owen-Holt-Feature/
Holt was a football quarterback his first two years in college. He switched primarily to baseball, but Harvard only played 6 games in 2020 (Holt’s junior year), before the season was cancelled, then the Ivy League announced that it would cancel baseball again in 2021. Holt had just one semester left at Harvard, and he was allowed to be dual-enrolled at Harvard (probably all remotely) and at ACC, both “full-time.” so he was taking about 7 classes that semester. It doesn’t say, but I assume that Holt ended up with his Harvard degree.
For development purposes, then, Holt has almost no baseball mileage on this arm. He also seems to have great make-up, in light of what he had to do just to play somewhere in 2021.
Seems like a pretty savvy pick by the Reds. All pitchers are longshots, but he’s one to keep an eye on.
Basically a fascinating Covid story. Sounds like baseball needs him more than he needs baseball. Interesting to see if he performs well in AA later this season. Clearly a fast learner, so if there’s enough talent there the age and late start won’t matter at all.
Got to believe Holt is the trivia answer to the question Who is the only person to transfer from Harvard to Alvin Community College. Wonder if Harvard accepted his ACC credits toward his degree.
Sorry to change the subject matter but Who is Nick Northcut ? I can’t find anything about him.
You didn’t search very hard. Doug wrote about him last week and the full report on him is the 4th article on this site. He came over in the Pham deal from Boston.
https://www.redsminorleagues.com/2023/01/25/cincinnati-reds-top-prospects-nick-northcut-3b/
There are several interesting relievers in the Reds system but it is hard to find any info on them. Thanks for the info.
Vin Timpanelli, Andrew Moore, Braxton Roxby, Jake Gozzo, Ryan Nutof, Spencer Stockton, Lewis Mey, Donovan Benoit
I’m sure there has been article here about all of these guys.
Timpanelli the college catcher signed out of a NYC adult recreation league pitched in AFL, Nutof a draftee out of Michigan where he was a closer, Moore an ex- Mariner prospect who came with Marte and Arroyo for Castillo, Roxby college player signed as free agent in 5-round draft year out of University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown, Stockton also a free agent out of Jacksonville Univer. and the USPBL Independent Leagues Utica Unicorns, Benoit very hard thrower out of Tulane, 10th round pick , pitched for Great Britian in WBC qualifier. Luis Mey, righthander, an international signee from Dominican Republic.
I didn’t say you couldn’t find any info. There just isn’t much. The reason I know about some of these guys is because it was in n here. I know Moore and Mey can both reach 102. I’ve seen the crazy breaking stuff that Roxby has, I know Gozzo and Timpanelli are converted position players. Just not much out there on relievers.
Is it just me, or does that top pic of Holt make him look like he’s 45-years-old? Are we confident he’s got any projection at all left? Did he pitch at Harvard between teaching classes in Molecular Genetics?
(Note: I’m not trying to disparage the guy, especially since I’m older than forty-five. I just thought it was funny, since pretty much all pics of the prospects look exactly like the whippersnappers they are. It was odd to see one that could easily pass as…distinguished.)
I thought he looked like Rick Reuschel.
Peter Gammons did a long piece on him in January 2022 in The Athletic, which is also excellent. In two years, he got in for one play in football, as holder in the Harvard-Yale game at Fenway Park as a freshman in 2018. He had played as an outfielder on a very good Texas team in high school, and took up pitching in 2020. In his first start in 2020 (pre-Covid), he pitched 5 shutout innings against a then-undefeated Alabama.
When Covid hit and Harvard became remote, Holt went back to Houston, and was working out at Solis Performance Training HTX and met Reds scout Mike Partida and his son. Partida (like Nolan Ryan) had attended Alvin CC, told him that was his best shot at playing in 2021, and helped arrange it. Per Gammons, Holt pitched a total of 8 innings at Harvard, but it had Rapsodo and Trackman, so he got used to the analytical side of it. So, we have Mike Partida’s hustle to thank, if Holt makes it to Cincinnati.
The Athletic article includes a photo of him in a Reds uniform, in which he looks young and wicked strong.
This is an excellent story. I need to re-read The Glory of Their Times by Lawrence Ritter, which I consider one of the top handful of baseball books. It shows, among many other things, that good baseball players can come from any place and any station in life.
I like this prospect Owen Holt, he has been permorming well but maybe he should show he can throw 100 plus innings this year in order to become a starter. I think offering three quality pitches right now is a candidate to start games and if he can ad another average pitch will be very good.