Micah Owings of the Diamondbacks has been awesome this year. (Self-promoting reminder: Remember when I interviewed Owings? No?
Check it out!) If you just look at Owings as a pitcher, he hasn’t been outstanding. In a season filled with fantastic rookie campaigns, Owings has certainly been out shadowed by the likes of Tim Lincecum, Yovani Gallardo and Clay Buchholz. But last night, the 6’5” righty out of Tulane threw a complete-game shutout against the Giants. Last year, Owings split time between AA Tennessee and AAA Tuscon, where he combined to throw 162 innings, striking out 130 and walking 51. He made one more start in AAA in April of this year before getting called up to the majors, where his numbers have been in line with his minor league performance. Through 155.1 innings in the bigs, Owings has struck out 106 and walked 51. His shutout tonight lowered his ERA to 4.23, slightly better than the NL average of 4.41.
MLB.com
But, it’s not Owings’ pitching that has really impressed me. In his final year at Tulane, Owings hit a ridiculous .355/.470/.719. Prior to that, he hit .318/.394/.549 at Georgia Tech and in 2003, Owings hit .345 in the Cape Cod League for the Bourne Braves after hitting .306/.392/.593 for the Yellow Jackets. The guy can flat-out hit. This year, as a pitcher, Owings is hitting .291/.310/.618. Yes, the standard small-sample-size caveats apply. But, from his performance in college, it’s easy to see that Owings knows what he’s doing with a bat in his hands. In just 55 AB, Owings has four doubles, a triple and four home runs. Sure, the on-base percentage is low, but the power is legit, as 56 percent of Owings’ hits have gone for extra bases. Do I think he’d slug .618 over a full season? Probably not, but do you think he could hit .277/.358/.479? Guess what…that’s the line an average National League left fielder is putting up this year. Owings might not get on base at a .358 clip, but he could probably slug better than .479.
GainsvilleTimes.com
Owings is the poster boy for my case on teams giving two-way players a chance to succeed in the field and on the mound at the Major League level. How valuable would it be to have a league-average starting pitcher (with upside) that you could confidently stick in left field or at first base a few times per week? Sure, there’s a lot to lose, but there’s so much to gain. Having a legitimate two-way player would not only give the team more roster flexibility, but it would allow them to get the most value out of their players. Owings’ potential is being wasted on days when he’s not pitching. I know it’s a very risky move and that baseball is extremely slow to change and try new things, but I honestly believe that it could work. Look at how many players in college succeed on the mound and with the bat – why not give them a chance to do both at the professional level? Why do teams insist on making them give up half of their talent? Yes, I understand that pitchers work a lot on the days when they’re not pitching. They need rest, do stretching and weight training and they have throwing days and bullpen sessions. It would take a lot of work and a lot of commitment for a player to be dedicated to being a pitcher and playing the field a few days a week. In college, guys might pitch on Friday and then play outfield Saturday and Sunday – so it would be a lot different than being a two-way player at the professional level. But, everything is different. Let’s imagine a player pitches on Monday, so he would have Tuesday off to rest. On Wednesday and Thursday, the player would complete his scheduled throwing routine, whether that be long toss or a bullpen session, and would play the field. He would have Friday off to chart and would pitch again on Saturday, starting the cycle over again. So, realistically, in a given week, the player would get 1-2 starts on the mound and 2-3 in the field. And, if the player ends up not being able to cut it playing the field 2-3 times per week, what have you lost? You can still stick him on the mound.
In all honesty, I don’t think this will ever happen. It would take a very gutsy general manager, a field manager that is creative and willing to shuffle the deck and a player with the right tools and willingness. Even though it would have the possibility to be a media frenzy and a marketer’s wet dream, the player’s agent would almost certainly be against it because of injury concerns. But, I would love to see it happen and I think a smart team should start taking advantage of this untapped resource. Add it to the list of many “out-of-the-box” ideas that I think more teams should try.