Padres Pitcher Suddenly Retires From MLB at 27 Years Old

Carter Loewen, a right-handed pitcher in the San Diego Padres organization, has suddenly retired from Major League Baseball, according to his MLB.com transactions log.

Loewen, 27, appeared in two games with the Padres this spring, allowing two runs over one inning with two strikeouts. Now, he's retired from the game of baseball.

Loewen was initially drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 40th round of the 2016 MLB Draft. He elected to go to college, though, and ended up signing with the Padres as an undrafted free agent out of Hawaii in June 2020.

Loewen started in High-A and gradually worked his way up through the minor league ranks. Last year, he reached Triple-A for the first time in his career, where he pitched well in limited action, throwing 2.1 shutout innings with three strikeouts. Across his 18 appearances in Double-A, he had a 2.38 ERA with 20 strikeouts across 22.2 innings.

Loewen has dealt with a series of injuries over the last few years. He missed a majority of the 2022 season recovering from Tommy John surgery and missed half of last season due to an injury. However, less than two weeks ago, he spoke to Blue Jays Nation's Ben Wrixon about his plans to prioritize his diet and stay healthy for the 2026 season.

“One very low-hanging fruit for me is diet, and what I put in my body,” Loewen said in early March. “If I’m lacking in iron or calcium or whatever the bloodwork comes back to show, I’ll try to do the best that I can to hit the areas where the level might not be fully filled.”

He also wanted to focus on sleep.

“The sleep aspect is obviously huge because that’s when your body recovers from going out and throwing 96 (mph) every night. That’s not a very easy thing to do on the body," he said.

“Waking up knowing I’m not going to feel like crap the next day — that’s just a very easy thing to prevent. I’ve tried mouth tape, I’ve tried nose strips, I’ve tried everything in the book, and honestly, I’ve found going to bed at the same time every night is literally the biggest thing.”

Loewen entered the year planning on representing his home country of Canada in the World Baseball Classic. However, an insurance issue prevented him from suiting up for the Canadians.

RHP Brock Dykxhoorn (Goderich, ON) has been added to Canada’s roster for the upcoming World Baseball Classic.

Dykxhoorn replaces RHP Carter Loewen (Abbotsford, BC) who was removed from the roster due to an insurance issue.

Dykxhoorn, 31, is currently a member of the… pic.twitter.com/jGAGTtCXiC
— Baseball Canada 🇨🇦⚾️ (@baseballcanada) February 22, 2026

Loewen was not one of the Padres' top 30 prospects, per MLB Pipeline. However, after his impressive 2025 season, he could have been in line to make his MLB debut sometime in 2026 or 2027.

The reason for Loewen's sudden retirement is currently unknown.

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