At 25, Riley Gowens has friends who are already less than enamored with aspects of their professional lives.
Gowens, a 2018 Libertyville graduate, has no such feelings about his job. In his third season of professional baseball, the 6-foot-4, 225-pound right-hander is a workhorse for the Birmingham Barons, the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox.
“I eat, sleep and live baseball, so I’m enjoying it,” Gowens said. “I feel like I’m getting better every day, and it’s so easy to do that in pro ball because you have all day to focus on yourself, plus there’s an analytics team and player development staff whose job it is to get the most out of your ability.”
That’s exactly what has been happening for Gowens, who pitched 11 consecutive scoreless innings, allowing a total of four hits, in his final two July outings. He improved his record to 7-4 and lowered his ERA to 3.94 over a team-high 91 ⅓ innings.
Perhaps most important for Gowens, whose fastball velocity ranges comfortably between 92 mph and 95 mph, is the fact that he has struck out a team-high 105 and walked just 37 this season.
“I had a tough June, primarily due to walking too many guys,” he said. “I was still striking out the world, but if you walk even one big league hitter, you’re asking for trouble.
“I’ve gone back to attacking guys in the zone with the hope of going deeper into games. If you get two strikes, then go for the strikeout.”
This is the version of Gowens that scouts saw when he pitched at Illinois, despite less than stellar numbers during his five years in Champaign.
Part of Gowens’ lack of statistical success was due to injury. He didn’t pitch in either of his first two years on campus as he recovered from Tommy John surgery. He had suffered the elbow injury during Libertyville’s win against Lake Zurich in the 2018 regional semifinals.
“He struck out a couple guys in the inning that he got hurt, but something didn’t look right, so we got him out of there,” Libertyville coach Matt Thompson said. “It was unfortunate because all he was interested in doing was winning. I remember him being a big, intimidating presence on the mound who wasn’t going to back down from anyone.”
Riley Gowens
Illinois right-hander Riley Gowens prepares to throw a pitch during a game against Michigan State in East Lansing, Michigan, on Friday, March 25, 2022. (Al Goldis / AP)
Once Gowens finally returned to the mound, he had to rediscover that dominance.
“It was something like 1,000 days since I had last pitched, so I felt pretty far removed from what it was like to pitch in a game,” he said. “That first year was like a blur, and I didn’t perform the way I had hoped. There was definitely some doubt.”
Gowens’ fourth and fifth years at Illinois also didn’t yield great numbers. He produced a 6.30 ERA in 2023, when he was hindered by hamstring and oblique injuries.
But Gowens was buoyed by the Illini coaching staff, which reiterated that he has ample ability to continue his career beyond college, and he pitched in the MLB Draft League in 2022-23 to get additional exposure.
“The entire time at Illinois, my pitching coach did a good job always telling me that the way I throw he wouldn’t be surprised if I end up in pro ball,” Gowens said. “That stuck with me when things weren’t going well.”
Gowens was picked by the Atlanta Braves in the ninth round of the 2023 MLB draft and got in abbreviated work at the organization’s Florida rookie complex and with the Single-A Augusta GreenJackets.
The White Sox then acquired Gowens, among others, in the Aaron Bummer trade in November 2023. He started last season at Single-A Winston-Salem but was promoted to Birmingham in July 2024.
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“When you show up on day one in rookie ball, everything is a little murky and everyone is unsure,” Gowens said. “In my first few outings, the switch flipped a little bit, and I felt like I was playing with house money coming off a bad senior year.”
Also beneficial for Gowens in recent years has been his relationship with Neal Cotts, who pitched for both the White Sox (2003-2006) and the Cubs (2007-2009) during 10 seasons in the majors. Gowens and Cotts throw together and strategize during the offseason.
“The thing that sets him apart from others is his desire to compete and be better than anybody else,” Cotts said. “A lot of the stuff we talk about is more on the mental side. He’s pretty explosive for his size, and once you have your mechanics down and once you can repeat them, you create your identity as a pitcher.”
Gowens is confident he has more to show.
“I’ve gotten the advice that as soon as I get to pro ball to run with it, and I’ve found it to be an environment I can thrive in,” he said. “It’s a combination of a lot of things. I’ve also gotten a lot stronger, and my head is in a good frame of mind.
“I still think I’m not close to maximizing my potential.”
Steve Reaven is a freelance reporter.
Originally Published: July 31, 2025 at 8:47 AM CDT