The Diamondbacks have designated lefty Adam Loewen for assignment, per a club announcement. Arizona has also activated catcher Welington Castillo and recalled southpaw Edwin Escobar.
Loewen, 32, has seen big league action as a starter, an outfielder, and — most recently — a reliever. He struggled through six innings for the D-Backs during a brief stint, allowing ten earned runs while issuing six walks and recording only three strikeouts.
The multi-functional ballplayer had been much more effective at Triple-A this year, where he recorded a 3.52 ERA in 38 1/3 innings and racked up 9.6 K/9. On the other hand, he also handed out a troubling 28 free passes in that span, continuing a longstanding battle with control.
Loewen was taken with the fourth overall pick in the 2002 draft by the Orioles. He showed promise as a starter in the Baltimore farm system, but was never able to stick at the major league level. Loewen switched to the position-player side in 2009, and again moved through the minor league ranks — this time with the Blue Jays. Despite posting a .306/.377/.508 slash in 585 Triple-A plate appearances in 2011, though, he earned only a brief big league cameo as a hitter that year and eventually moved back to the rubber.
