Michah Owings should become a full time hitter!

[Love The Game]

This guy is nuts with the bat, career .341 avg., .636 slg pct., and a homer every 17.6 at bats. Who else thinks this guy should be a full time player? He would only get better as a hitter. His teamates say he has the most power on the team--to all fields. We could be missing something great here. He's pitching well so far, but I think his impact for the D-backs could be greater at the dish instead of on the rubber.

[SamtheBravesFan]

This guy is nuts with the bat, career .341 avg., .636 slg pct., and a homer every 17.6 at bats. Who else thinks this guy should be a full time player? He would only get better as a hitter. His teamates say he has the most power on the team--to all fields. We could be missing something great here. He's pitching well so far, but I think his impact for the D-backs could be greater at the dish instead of on the rubber.

Not me. The Diamondbacks are fine enough hitting as it is. If they actually thought that Owings would be better as a position player, they would have converted him by now. Besides, if he becomes a full time hiter, I'm sure those stats won't look quite so scintillating.

[Transplanted Fan]

He's too good of a pitcher to move to the field, even when he's not in the rotation. What would suit him best is to move to an AL team and bat in the DH spot on days he's not pitching.

[Honus Wagner Rules]

What position would Ownings play? Given his size I think first base or the corner outfield positions would be his only real options. Aren't those positions fill already? Also, Ownings has one major weakness that will eventually be exploited. He has a terrible BB/K rate.

[Honus Wagner Rules]

He's too good of a pitcher to move to the field, even when he's not in the rotation. What would suit him best is to move to an AL team and bat in the DH spot on days he's not pitching.

I wonder if an AL team would ever try something like that? :think:

[Urbanshocker13]

He's too good of a pitcher to move to the field, even when he's not in the rotation. What would suit him best is to move to an AL team and bat in the DH spot on days he's not pitching.

That would make a strange situration, if he DHed on days he didn't pitch you would expect him to hit on days he pitches, so on those days the AL team would have to forfit the DH for those games!!! I can only imagine what everyone who hates the DH would say!

[Love The Game]

Not me. The Diamondbacks are fine enough hitting as it is. If they actually thought that Owings would be better as a position player, they would have converted him by now. Besides, if he becomes a full time hiter, I'm sure those stats won't look quite so scintillating.
What if they said that about Ruth? Not saying Owings is Ruth, but have you seen this guy swing? He looks great as a hitter. As for the stats not being that great if he was a full time hitter, I tend to believe people become better at things with more practice and experience. He's had close to 90 at bats in the bigs so far. Can't be a fluke for that long.

[digglahhh]

He's had close to 90 at bats in the bigs so far. Can't be a fluke for that long.

said Chris Shelton.

[Love The Game]

said Chris Shelton.

Was he the dude that had like 10 dingers in the first 15 games last year? If so, touche digglahh, touche.

[digglahhh]

Was he the dude that had like 10 dingers in the first 15 games last year? If so, touche digglahh, touche.

Yeah, the red-headed 1B from Detroit. I think it was '05 though.

Thanks.

The underlying point is that even an entire season's worth of AB doesn't necessarily represent a player's "true" skill. 90 ABs is actually rather insignificant in the grand scheme of things. I mean, we know he's no normal hitting pitcher, but 90 ABs doesn't prove he's a legit elite hitter either.

If he were to hit at least part time, you might see him improve with extra work. You also might see pitchers learning to exploit weaknesses that haven't been fully exposed yet. You can't really predict.

One red flag about the prospects of Owings's capability to be an elite, everyday hitter is that he's struck in about 25% of his plate appearances, and King about 4.5 times as frequently as he is drawing walks. This may be exacerbated by not getting regular ABs, it is difficult to get in the box only once every five days, and PH duty is tough too. I'd expect higher K rates than normal under those circumstances, granted.

It would be tough and demanding to ask he learn to play another position in addition to pitching (not to mention potentially stunting to his development as a P, and increasing the likelihood of injury). If he was in the AL though, depending on the team, I'd say it might be worth a shot to give him some opportunities to hit semi-regularly.

While not a given, it's probably worth finding out, provided you can minimize the physical risk.

[Westlake]

I believe that Shelton year was 2006.

[Love The Game]

The underlying point is that even an entire season's worth of AB doesn't necessarily represent a player's "true" skill. 90 ABs is actually rather insignificant in the grand scheme of things. I mean, we know he's no normal hitting pitcher, but 90 ABs doesn't prove he's a legit elite hitter either.



I definitely think you are right about that. Well, the sad thing about that is kids actually get drafted off 90 at bats. Go back to '96, the Reds first round pick (#26 I think) was a kid named John Oliver. Played for Lake Lehman High School. I played against him. I have no idea what the scouts saw in him. (I struck him out twice in a game). And that was with no more than an 85 mph fastball. He did have great speed and an unbelievable arm. I don't think he made it past A ball. Just goes to show you that's there is no such thing as a can't miss. I still think Owings could hit big league pitching well. I'd love to see him go to the AL and DH part time but I don't see that ever happening.

[Blackout]

What if they said that about Ruth? Not saying Owings is Ruth, but have you seen this guy swing? He looks great as a hitter. As for the stats not being that great if he was a full time hitter, I tend to believe people become better at things with more practice and experience. He's had close to 90 at bats in the bigs so far. Can't be a fluke for that long.

Tris Speaker called out Boston for moving Babe Ruth