Power + speed = prospect: Blake Bowen's growth makes him an intriguing player to pick

Blake Bowen suddenly found himself thrust into a spotlight in his senior season at JSerra Catholic High School and he's made the most of it.

Originally a two-sport athlete playing both baseball and football at Riverside King High School, Bowen transferred to JSerra in 2023 and made baseball his focus, but the athleticism that made him stand out on the gridiron transferred just as well to the diamond. 

"He's the best athlete I've ever coached," JSerra head coach Brett Kay said of Bowen. "You could see what he's capable of, and the things that he does are pretty special on the field and he's got a chance to be a high draft pick."

Kay knows a thing or two about coaching high level athletes, with players like Royce Lewis and Austin Hedges having been past pupils of his, but just one look at Bowen explains Kay's strong stance. 

Built to play ball

Bowen is 6'3 and 225 pounds with strength and speed in spades that made him one of the top power hitters in California high school baseball. 

He finished his senior campaign batting .360 with nine home runs. An outfielder with as much speed on the base paths as he has power at the plate, Bowen may be an Oregon State commit, but the expectations around him project that he should be picked in the second round of the 2026 MLB Draft, if not earlier. 

"I just think I'm an athlete on the field, and baseball is not just hitting. So, I can run the bases, I can be in the outfield and just be an athlete overall," Bowen said. "An 0-0 day or and 0-4 day, I can still impact the game some way or another. So I think that's the biggest thing that will carry on and help me travel wherever I'm at and get me to the next level."

The physical attributes were already there for Bowen throughout his senior season so the emphasis for him and for Kay was to help Bowen develop his instincts even more and grow him into a leader of his team. 

Ric Tapia – The Sporting Tribune

Blake Bowen #18 of JSerra Catholic High School poses for a portrait at JSerra Catholic High School on March 26, 2026 in San Juan Capistrano, California.

Continuing to grow

It's not an easy task for any player, especially one making the adjustment from two sports to focusing on one, but the task was made even harder for Bowen with the amount of attention that surrounded him throughout the season as scouts flocked in to see him play. 

But throughout that process, Bowen continued to rise, improving over time and showing just how many different ways he can impact a game. For him, it's not just about what he does at the plate, but how he uses his attributes on defense and especially as a baserunner, where he made a habit of stealing home and using his speed to get an extra leg up on his opponents. 

"If I could kind of see the pitchers being lazy, I just tried to take advantage of it because it changes the game," Bowen said of his base stealing habit. "And then if you still home, the momentum shifts… I just try to take advantage of anything I can get."

Those advantages took Bowen far with the Lions and now looking ahead to the future, his plethora of tools give him as strong of a foundation as he can have to go far at the next level.