Riley Gowens
Starting Pitcher
2024 South Side Sox Top Prospect Ranking 44
Birmingham Barons

Riley Gowens grew up in Libertyville, and went on to play at the University of Illinois prior to being drafted in the ninth round by the Atlanta Braves in 2023. The righthander was assigned to the FCL Braves to begin his minor league career after the draft, where he pitched three games before being promoted to the Braves Single-A affiliate, the Augusta GreenJackets. In 15 2/3 total innings in 2023, he averaged a 1.15 ERA and struck out 22 batters. Gowens was really efficient after moving up to Low-A ball, as he gave up just one run on three hits, amounting to a 1.04 ERA — 19% lower than his time with the FCL Braves.

In one of his better moves on the trade market, Chris Getz facilitated a five-player return for Aaron Bummer last November that also included RHP Michael Soroka, LHP Jared Shuster, SS Nicky Lopez, and SS Braden Shewmake. Upon joining the White Sox organization, Gowens was assigned to the High-A Winston-Salem Dash. With the Dash, Riley started 13 games (70 1/3 innings) and was the Winston-Salem strikeout master, leading the team with 85, averaging 10.88 K/9 at a 30.2% strikeout rate. While he didn’t have the top team ERA (4.35), he still posted a highly serviceable 1.04 WHIP and an average 4.00 FIP.

Gowens was promoted to the Double-A Birmingham Barons on July 4, and became an important piece of the Birmingham rotation. He started off a bit slowly in July, ending up with a 5.71 ERA in four games, but picked it up quite a bit in August and September, posting a 2.79 ERA in August and a 0.60 in his three September starts.

Overall, he started 12 games with the Barons (51 2/3 innings), and Gowens improved to a 3.14 ERA and threw for another 60 Ks. Although his K% went down slightly to 26.8%, and he ended up with a 1.35 WHIP and a respectable 3.33 FIP.

The 25-year-old has plenty of promise, with sound control. In 2024, batters were only able to produce a .216 batting average, and his 145 total strikeouts tell a similar story. Gowens’ fastball sits in the mid-to-upper 90’s, and as someone who really enjoys solid pitching, he has been a fun player to cover this season.

Congratulations, Riley Gowens, on a fantastic 2024 and a successful championship run!

2024 Sox Populi White Sox Minor League All-Star Team
Ronny Hernandez (C)
Edgar Quero (C) (Player of the Year)
Caden Connor (1B)
Tim Elko (1B)
Ryan Galanie (1B)
Shawn Goosenberg (1B)
Wilmer Difo (2B)
Brooks Baldwin (SS)
Zach DeLoach (LF)
Mason Adams (RHSP)
Aldrin Batista (RHSP)
Ky Bush (LHSP)
Lucas Gordon (LHSP)
Riley Gowens (RHSP)
Noah Schultz (LHSP) (Pitcher of the Year)
Drew Thorpe (RHSP)
Eric Adler (RHRP)
Adisyn Coffey (RHRP)
Bryce Collins (RHRP)
Aaron McGarity (RHRP)

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Photo by Tiffany Wintz/Sox Populi