Ben Rowen reached a crossroads in 2018, his nine years of professional baseball netting the lanky right-hander more stops at minor league outposts (13) than big league appearances (12) and little in the way of career earnings.
The former Palos Verdes High School and Los Angeles Harbor College pitcher struggled so much in his first month at triple-A Louisville, going 0-2 with a 9.28 ERA in 10 games, that Cincinnati released him that May, forcing him to finish the season with the independent league Sugar Land (Texas) Skeeters.
Rowen and his wife, Megan, a middle-school teacher, had a 1-year-old daughter, Ryan.