How many ballplayers can say they crossed one of those career milestones — being promoted to the next level — and got to do it in a ballpark they visited as a fan numerous times, or even played in?
That’s a short list. Let’s add Cody Bowker’s name to it.
A Bowdoinham resident and graduate of Thornton Academy in Saco, Bowker got the call over the weekend from the Philadelphia Phillies. He was getting promoted from the High-A Jersey Shore BlueClaws to the Double-A Reading Fightin Phils.
Forget that Reading’s roster lists Bowker’s hometown as Milford, Massachussets. That’s a fluke of birth. He’s a Maine kid, growing up here, going to school here.
And he’d join Reading for a road trip to Portland, where he’d make his first Double-A start Thursday against the Sea Dogs at Delta Dental Park at Hadlock Field.
How many visiting players have around 100 friends and family waiting for him after the game? No pressure.
“I can’t say my heart wasn’t thumping out of my chest. But at the end of the day, I enjoy that and that’s why I play the game,” Bowker said.
Bowker was the 100th overall selection in the draft last year, selected by the Phillies in the third round out of Vanderbilt, where he spent a season after starting his college career at Georgetown. This season, he rocketed through two levels of A ball before joining Reading at the start of the week. Entering Thursday’s game, Bowker had 107 strikeouts in 75 1/3 innings this season.
According to MLB Pipeline, Bowker is Philadelphia’s 15th-best prospect.
The first inning couldn’t have gone better for Bowker with a script. Portland leadoff hitter Tyler McDonough, strikeout looking. Roman Anthony, rehabbing a finger injury so he can rejoin Boston’s lineup, soft groundball to shortstop. Brooks Brannon, another strikeout looking.
Bowker retired the first two hitters he faced in the second inning, before Yoellin Cespedes doubled to right center field. The only other hit he allowed was a solo home run to Will Turner in the fifth inning.
Bowker’s line was impressive: five innings, two hits, one earned run, six strikeouts, no walks. He threw 65 pitches, 45 for strikes. He earned the win in his first Double-A start, an 11-1 Fightin Phils victory. In the third inning, he got Anthony our on another grounder to short.
“To be honest, I’ve got nothing to lose, right? Actually, me and Roman are the same age (Bowker is five months older),” he said. “I like attacking those guys and those are the guys I want to face. I want a whole lineup of those guys.”
On the mound where he faced Portland in high school, Bowker talked to himself as he pitched to the Sea Dogs. It keeps him focused, he said.
“It just kind of keeps me pitch to pitch. I probably can’t repeat some of the things,” Bowker said.
In his seat down the third base line, Thornton Academy coach Jason Lariviere had a perfect vantage point to watch his former player. He’d seen that same competitive drive in Bowker since the kid was 11 years old. It manifested in the biggest moments.
When Bowker was a senior at Thornton, he pitched the regional final, a win over South Portland. He didn’t reach the pitch count that would’ve made him ineligible to throw in the state final against Bangor. Still, Lariviere planned to start Josh Kopetski, who he thought was more suited to begin the game than come on in relief.
The night before the game, Bowker called his coach. I want the ball, he said. Trust me, Lariviere said. By the end of the game you’ll be holding the ball and you will be getting us to the state championship. Bowker entered the game with runners on the corners and nobody out in the fourth inning, erased the jam, and mowed down Bangor the rest of the way in a 1-0 win.
Lariviere played five seasons in the minors with the St. Louis Cardinals organization. He knows the journey Bowker’s on. He knows the ups and downs Bowker will face. He knows Bowker is mentally built for it.
“You play professionally, the chances of playing near your hometown are slim to none. The closest I came was Massachusetts. It was always my dream to play back here,” Lariviere said.
When Lariviere got word that Bowker had been promoted to Reading and would be pitching in Portland this week, he sent him a congratulatory text.
“In typical Cody style, he responded within a minute,” Lariviere said. “He said ‘See you there.’”
A little rain fell when Bowker left the Reading dugout after the game. A crowd waited for him down the first base line. Most of the fans had left, but while the ground crew worked on the field, Bowker celebrated his Double-A debut and win with Maine. Many were Red Sox fans, and by extension Sea Dogs fans. But they were Cody Bowker fans first.