Kansas City Royals: Catching up with Jonathan Bowlan

What has KC Royals prospect Jonathan Bowlan been focusing on?

Q: What has been one of the biggest things you’ve been working on during the offseason this year?

Consistency with my mechanics and all my pitches, especially my CH.

As previously mentioned, Bowlan already had an above-average fastball. It currently sits in the mid-90s, however, he has been able to reach the upper-90s at times. He pairs the velocity of his fastball with the sinking action, making it easy to see why it is his best pitch.

But adding his changeup to the mix, and getting a much better feel for it could bring a significant upgrade to his game. So what exactly has he been doing to help improve his changeup?

Q: For someone who’s not a pitcher, how do you build consistency and command of a certain pitch. Is it as “simple” as repeating the pitching over and over again? Or does grip also play a role in everything?

You have to find a grip you are comfortable with and then continue to throw it, feel it at your release point, and build confidence with it. Which comes from throwing it.

Q: To build off that, what kind of grip have you been using lately that feels the most comfortable when throwing you CH?

I’ve been experimenting with both a 4-seam and a 2-seam grip. I feel more consistent with the 2-seam because I have been throwing it longer but the 4-seam grip has been coming along pretty well. I would say more comfortable rather than consistent.

So why would it be such an improvement if Bowlan can build more consistency with his changeup? To put it simply, his slider is a pitch Bowlan feels he has more consistency with. While he doesn’t necessarily consider it to be better than his changeup, MLB.com and Baseball Savant have his slider labeled as a pitch that “will flash plus with tilt and sharp break to it”, which is a great offspeed pitch (low-80s) when coupled with his fastball.

When Bowlan establishes his most comfortable grip for an effective and consistent changeup, that would make him an even more dynamic pitcher. When looking at his 2019 numbers, imagine what they could look like with an improved changeup, coupled with his plus-fastball and a slider that flashes plus abilities. That seems like a recipe for disaster for a hitter.

Jonathan Bowlan nearly put the KC Royals’ minor league system on the map with a historic performance.

While 2019 brought a lot of growth and improvement for Bowlan, one game stands out to me in particular when diving into his 2019 season. That game was back on July 15th against the Carolina Mudcats. The reason it stood out was that it was his first professional complete game. By the end of the game, he finished 9.0 innings, striking out nine batters, allowing zero hits, zero runs, and zero walks.

At first glance, a Perfect Game!

Unfortunately, not though. The Blue Rocks did have one error in the game, making it a complete game, shut out. Still incredibly impressive, considering he threw less than 100 pitches as well.

So I had to ask…

Q: Looking at your games from last year, on July 15th you had a no-hitter and the one error in the game was the difference between a no-hitter and a perfect game. What can you remember from that game? Were you aware of everything? Were you commanding all your pitches last night?

I was aware of the no-hitter, but the butterflies hit me after the sixth inning and when that happened I just focused on one pitch, one out, and one breath at a time. After each inning I kept counting down the outs one by one starting in the 7th. I slowed the game down and trusted in my ability and my pitches. I was locating pitches down in the zone and getting weak contact. I do remember it very well.

The answer to this question brought to mind something Dayton Moore said last year when asked about bringing some of the college pitchers from the 2018 draft class to the big league level. He said he wanted to know not only how they handle the game when things are going right, but also how they handle adversity while pitching. He wants to know how each pitcher handles things mentally.

The fact that he was able to slow down the game and be mindful enough to recognize that he still had to execute each pitch for every out is very encouraging and should make Moore and the KC Royals organization very excited.

Is there a current KC Royals player that Jonathan Bowlan follows closely?

The last baseball question I asked is one that I can really respect and get behind. As humans, we replicate people to improve our own craft. After all, imitation is the highest form of flattery, right? So I had to ask…

Q: Do you have a favorite pitcher or pitcher you try to emulate your game after?

I do not, I watch successful pitchers mechanics and I get ideas and I experiment with things to help become my own pitcher.

Bowlan, in my mind, gets it. Baseball has a long, rich history of dominant pitchers. It would be easy to find one that you really like and are a fan of and emulate your game after him. Instead, Bowlan is looking at all the successful pitchers and trying to find what makes them successful and emulate that.

“Become [his] own pitcher.” In my mind, become “that” pitcher. If that doesn’t get you excited to see him develop and become “that” pitcher, on top of his improvements he’s trying to make and has shown from year one to year two, maybe we need to start talking and find out what will.

I could have gone with the question of “what do you do outside of baseball?” or some other generic question. Instead, I wanted to know something about him that was relevant to the world right now. During the COVID-19 Pandemic, sports understandably took a back seat. However, over a year before all this happened, we were teased by ESPN with a documentary over a particular basketball player who many consider being the greatest of all time, or better known as The GOAT. I took a shot at seeing if Bowlan has had time to watch the docu-series and see what his opinions are on who is the real GOAT, and how he’s felt about The Last Dance.

Q: Are you a Jordan, LeBron or Kobe guy? Who’s your GOAT? Did you watch the Jordan Docu-Series and what were your thoughts on it?

I am a Jordan guy, but Lebron is not far behind him, and Kobe is an absolute legend that competed his butt off every game. I watched the first couple of episodes and I plan on watching the rest very soon. He was an absolute beast and his mentality never changed whether it was in practice or the game. He was also very competitive when it came to golf.

Do you see why my question about golf was necessary now? Every athlete plays golf. The 2015 KC Royals were well documented playing golf, and even the “GOAT” himself played golf. But the real question isn’t just “do you play golf?” but rather “how good are you at playing golf?” But I digress.

Not much KC Royals-related here… just some fun questions and answers.

These last two questions, I feel, are questions that might be the best way to get to know a future Kansas City athlete. Both are about food and BBQ in Kansas City. First question:

Q: Boneless or bone-in wings?

I am a big Boneless guy but I will never turn down bone-in wings; especially from places in Memphis.

Now, I feel like this is the right answer. I am a boneless guy first, bone-in second. However, I will never refuse a bone-in wing or leg and won’t complain if I don’t get boneless. I’ll let you decide if this is make-or-break for you though.

Which leads to my last question. But let’s set the stage here. Bowlan attended Memphis for three years. Memphis is a city that is known for its BBQ. The only thing is, here in Kansas City we believe our BBQ is the best around. So I had to ask…

Q: I’m going to put you on the spot. Who has better BBQ? KC or TEN? No pressure.

[Laughing] Both places have very good BBQ but it just depends on what type of BBQ you want. If you want ribs and pulled pork it’s all Memphis. If you’re in the mood for some burnt ends the KC is the way haha. That’s at least what I’ve learned from the little bit of KC BBQ I have had. I’ll have to give a more detailed opinion once I’ve had some more KC BBQ. If I was to choose one right now, it would have to be Memphis.

As someone who has never had BBQ in Memphis, I don’t know if I can answer this question fairly. If you have had BBQ from both, I’ll let you decide what we do next.

Final Thoughts

After talking more with Jonathan Bowlan, the only outcome that came from it was excitement. This sounds like someone who understands that in order to reach the ultimate goal you can never stop working. His improvement from year one to year two showed that but hearing how he handles some of the mental aspects, as well as personal growth, should make anyone within the KC Royals organization excited.

I know I am a believer in the fact that Bowlan should be talked about more when mentioning the other pitchers in his draft class. I also am a believer in the fact that he will continue to improve and force himself into the conversation if anything.

Jonathan Bowlan has gained a fan and supporter. I look forward to seeing others join me as he continues working his way throughout the rankings, and I look forward to seeing him become “that” pitcher for the KC Royals.