Kevin Slowey

Kevin Michael Slowey (born May 4, 1984) is an American former professional baseball pitcher.

Slowey was selected by the Minnesota Twins in the second round (73rd overall) of the 2005 Major League Baseball Draft.

He also played for the Miami Marlins.

After his playing career ended, Slowey joined the Major League Baseball Players Association as an assistant.

Slowey drew little attention from Division I schools and ended up attending Winthrop University on an academic scholarship after scoring a 1420 on his SAT.

He went on to be named as a third-team All-American by Baseball America in 2005 when he had 14–2 record with 126 strikeouts, only 13 walks issued, and a 2.16 ERA.

In his three seasons at Winthrop, he set school records with 331 strikeouts and 29 wins.

Slowey ascended rapidly through the Twins minor league system and after failing to make the team as a dark horse candidate out of spring training, he began the 2007 season with the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings.

In nine starts, Slowey was 6–2 with a 1.54 ERA, 57 strikeouts, and five walks for the Red Wings.

Due to his strong start, he was called up to the Twins and made his major league debut on June 1, 2007, as a replacement for struggling Ramón Ortiz in the starting rotation.

In his first major league start against the Oakland Athletics, Slowey received a no decision in a Twins 3–2 win.

He gave up one run, five hits, struck out three, and walked two in six complete innings.

The lone run came off of a solo home run in the sixth inning by the A's Eric Chavez.

A highlight of the start occurred early in the game when in the first inning, Slowey showed excellent poise in working out of a bases loaded jam.

In his second start on June 6, 2007, Slowey earned the first win of his MLB career against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

He pitched five innings, giving up five runs, (four earned), striking out two, and walking none as the Twins won 8–5.

After an excellent start against the Atlanta Braves on June 12, 2007, in which he gave up two earned runs in six innings, Slowey began to struggle through his remaining starts.

On July 5, 2007, after giving up five earned runs in 3 innings against the New York Yankees, Slowey was optioned back to the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings, exchanging his roster spot with Carmen Cali.

Slowey pitched 23 innings for the Minnesota Twins in spring training, posting a 3–2 record and 4.94 ERA, earning him a spot on the starting rotation.

On April 11, 2008, Slowey was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right biceps.

On May 8, 2008, he was activated from the DL.

On May 29, 2008, Slowey pitched his first MLB complete game.

In that game against the Kansas City Royals, he was one out away from a shutout as well; however, he up gave an RBI double to Alex Gordon.

On June 29, 2008, Slowey pitched his first big league complete shutout game against the Milwaukee Brewers.

He finished the season 12–11 with a 3.99 ERA, 24 walks, and 123 strikeouts in 27 starts.

He achieved an 0–2 count on 32.7% of all batters he faced, the second-highest percentage in the majors.

In 16 starts, Slowey posted a very impressive 10–3 record, but recorded a 4.86 ERA and a WHIP of 1.412.

Slowey's season was cut short when he was placed on the disabled list for a strained right wrist on July 4.

Tests revealed that a pre-existing bone fragment was responsible for the aggravation.

Slowey had season-ending surgery on his wrist in late July.

Despite having wrist surgery, Slowey was able to start the season in the Twins rotation, winning in his first start of the year against the Los Angeles Angels.

In his 101st pitch of the night, he retired the next batter and finished the night with a victory after nine innings of work.

On July 1, 2010, he left a game against the Detroit Tigers after he was hit in the ankle by a batted ball, but did not miss any time on the mound.

On August 9, 2010, Slowey missed a start against the Chicago White Sox due to elbow soreness.

On August 15, 2010, he pitched seven no-hit innings against the Oakland Athletics before being removed in the top of the eighth for Jon Rauch.

Rauch retired the first batter he faced before giving up a double to Cliff Pennington.

Addressing the questionable move, manager Ron Gardenhire said, "It's the way it is. It's sad. I'd be booing too because I want to see a no-hitter, but I also know I'm responsible for this guy's arm", as he alluded to the elbow tendinitis that caused Slowey to miss his last start.

Slowey had thrown 106 pitches through his seven innings.

He ended the season going 13–6 with a 4.45 ERA in a career-high 30 games (28 starts).

In Spring Training 2011, Slowey was given a chance to win a spot in the Twins starting rotation, but he was unsuccessful.