Owings and the Myth of the Hitting Pitcher

[SuperHornet]

First Take was debating the ability of pitchers to hit during the "First and Ten" segment today. They mentioned the fact that on most HS and college teams (probably holds true in Babe Ruth/Cal Ripken/American Legion ball as well) the best athletes (not to mention the best hitters) are generally pitchers who play the field on their off days. Somehow, when these pitchers hit the minors, they are either permanently moved to a field position a la George Ruth when he was stupidly traded/sold to the Yankees, or they buy into this myth that major league pitchers absolutely canNOT hit. There have been exceptions to that rule from Ruth to Ruffing to even Hershiser (though the Bulldog didn't have the power that Ruth and Ruffing had). But the dearth led to the unfortunate and poorly written DH rule in the AL. (The rule mandates that IF the DH is used, then it MUST be used in place of the PITCHER. It should be rewritten to allow the DH to be used in place of ANY batter in the lineup. There is no logical reason why a second baseman hitting below the Mendoza line should hit when a recently acquired pitcher hitting .350 should ride the pine.)

It seems, though, that things are changing (albeit slowly) with the coming out of one Micah Owings. He is being increasingly used as a pinch hitter (went yard last night in that role) and is hitting .421. Seems that Owings would be in the hunt for the NL batting title and perhaps even the Triple Crown, but even as an oft-used pinch hitter, he won't have enough ABs to qualify. Unless the D-Backs start using him as the Red Sox used Ruth: put Owings in the field on his non-pitching days. As much as I don't like the D-Backs (being a Reds and Padres fan), I would desperately love to see a pitcher tell a position player to take a back seat to a pitcher. If Owings is successful in this, and I have no reason to believe that he won't be, then perhaps we'll see the AL either modify or even abolish the stupidest rule in baseball.

Go Micah Owings! (As long as you're not playing vs. the Reds or Padres, anyway. LOL.)

[dbackjon]

As a Dback fan, Micah Owings is a joy to watch. He has been dominating as a pitcher (worried a little about his ankle for his start Friday) so far this year, and is tearing it up at the plate.

We Dbacks fans debate this as well - could Micah play the field? We do have solid young players in the OF, and at 1st, so that option is limited. Plus, the value of a solid #3 pitcher is probably greater than having him in the field.

It is great to see Melvin use him as a pinch-hitter - shows a lot of confidence in his ability, and a willingness to not conform to the "rules".

[AZGrizFan]

As a Dback fan, Micah Owings is a joy to watch. He has been dominating as a pitcher (worried a little about his ankle for his start Friday) so far this year, and is tearing it up at the plate.

We Dbacks fans debate this as well - could Micah play the field? We do have solid young players in the OF, and at 1st, so that option is limited. Plus, the value of a solid #3 pitcher is probably greater than having him in the field.

It is great to see Melvin use him as a pinch-hitter - shows a lot of confidence in his ability, and a willingness to not conform to the "rules".

Agreed. Although, before Co-Jack's hot start I would have been fine with Micah playing at 1B on the off days....but Co-Jack is doing JUUUUUUUST fine there now....I'll take Micah every 5th day, with a PH here or there in between...He should get anywhere between 90-100 AB's this year. That should give us a good indication of his abilities....

[SuperHornet]

As a Dback fan, Micah Owings is a joy to watch. He has been dominating as a pitcher (worried a little about his ankle for his start Friday) so far this year, and is tearing it up at the plate.

We Dbacks fans debate this as well - could Micah play the field? We do have solid young players in the OF, and at 1st, so that option is limited. Plus, the value of a solid #3 pitcher is probably greater than having him in the field.

It is great to see Melvin use him as a pinch-hitter - shows a lot of confidence in his ability, and a willingness to not conform to the "rules".

You seem to be taking the Owings in the field idea as an "either/or". Why not take it as an "and?" Let him take his regular turn on the mound every 3, 4, or 5 days, or whatever it is, and then play him in a corner outfield position on the in-between days? That's what Ruth did in Boston, and the results were incredible. His ERA was in the low ones, and he blasted away all the contemporary HR records. While we don't expect Owings to lead the HR race, why would one want to take away his shot at the batting title? He probably wouldn't maintain his torrid .421 clip, but he could easily finish somewhere in the .350-.375 range for the season hitting AND pitching on a regular basis. I'd also love to see the D-Backs take LaRussa's idea even further: place Owings in the leadoff spot when he IS in the game.

Another option would be to leave Owings in the game in a field position when he pinch hits. Not only would that leave another player available for pinch hitting duties later, depending on when he goes in, Owings could get more than one crack in the game.

My point is that when you have an incredible asset such as Micah Owings, he should be USED, not allowed to rot. Not that the D-Backs are doing that. Just that they could be doing so much more.

[dbackjon]

I would worry about his strength being able to do both. Babe Ruth was an incredible talent - and the demands of the game are far different today.

Arizona has some pretty good corner players as it is.

[AZGrizFan]

You seem to be taking the Owings in the field idea as an "either/or". Why not take it as an "and?" Let him take his regular turn on the mound every 3, 4, or 5 days, or whatever it is, and then play him in a corner outfield position on the in-between days?

My point is that when you have an incredible asset such as Micah Owings, he should be USED, not allowed to rot. Not that the D-Backs are doing that. Just that they could be doing so much more.

Who are you going to sit? Byrnes? Upton? Jackson? Young?


I don't think so. If we had a weakness, I'd be all for your idea. But we don't. At least not now...

[UNHWildCats]

the NL should adopt the DH rule then Owings can hit for the other 4 pitchers when hes not starting

[MrTitleist]

When Mike Hampton was in Colorado he was used as a pinch hitter a couple times.. led all pitchers in BA and HRs one season. Jason Jennings is pretty decent with a bat as well.

[SuperHornet]

Just saw in the paper today that Owings is something like 5th all time in OPS for those with over 75 ABs. That list includes names like Gehrig. Wow.

BTW, Jon, while I get your idea that this is a different era, one should also look at the way Ruth approached the game. He was Joe Namath before Joe Namath. Constantly drunk and messing with the Bettys. If he could handle THAT in an era where the concept of a relief pitcher hardly existed, then Owings could certainly do it in an era where he can get credit for a "quality start" after 6 innings and fielders are swapped out in a "platoon" system. I could easily see Owings platooning at first or in right. In fact, Owings could be labeled as a "utility" guy and play a different position every night, giving the "regulars" a valuable night off.

[AZGrizFan]

Just saw in the paper today that Owings is something like 5th all time in OPS for those with over 75 ABs. That list includes names like Gehrig. Wow.

BTW, Jon, while I get your idea that this is a different era, one should also look at the way Ruth approached the game. He was Joe Namath before Joe Namath. Constantly drunk and messing with the Bettys. If he could handle THAT in an era where the concept of a relief pitcher hardly existed, then Owings could certainly do it in an era where he can get credit for a "quality start" after 6 innings and fielders are swapped out in a "platoon" system. I could easily see Owings platooning at first or in right. In fact, Owings could be labeled as a "utility" guy and play a different position every night, giving the "regulars" a valuable night off.

The only benefit would be if we were wanting to send down our 4th outfielder (Burke). Owings can't play middle infield (so Ojeda stays) and he can't play 3rd. He can't play catcher (so Montero & Hammock stay). Hammock already fills the role you describe (albeit, not as well, BA and OPS wise). I don't think you'd have many DBack fans arguing your point....but I think the DBacks would rather see Micah concentrate on his pitching. We've got offense a plenty.

[SuperHornet]

First Take interviewed Owings this morning. They played a clip of last week's interview with Conor Jackson in which Jackson claims that D-Back field players hate having Owings in their hitting group because he makes them look bad. How crazy is that? Owings discussed the potential of playing regularly and the possibility of getting out of the 9 slot. (He had a game in the 7 slot during spring training, but apparently that experiment didn't work.) They asked him about hitting against himself and against Brandon Webb, but he didn't sound too keen about doing either.

Incidentally, Owings' average is "down" to .417 after a 1-for-3 performance in his last start.

[AZGrizFan]

First Take interviewed Owings this morning. They played a clip of last week's interview with Conor Jackson in which Jackson claims that D-Back field players hate having Owings in their hitting group because he makes them look bad. How crazy is that? Owings discussed the potential of playing regularly and the possibility of getting out of the 9 slot. (He had a game in the 7 slot during spring training, but apparently that experiment didn't work.) They asked him about hitting against himself and against Brandon Webb, but he didn't sound too keen about doing either.

Incidentally, Owings' average is "down" to .417 after a 1-for-3 performance in his last start.

The attention Owings is getting for his hitting is directly affecting his recent pitching performances in my opinion. Dude needs to stop reading his press clippings and focus on what got him to the bigs....PITCHING.

[Col Hogan]

First Take interviewed Owings this morning. They played a clip of last week's interview with Conor Jackson in which Jackson claims that D-Back field players hate having Owings in their hitting group because he makes them look bad. How crazy is that? Owings discussed the potential of playing regularly and the possibility of getting out of the 9 slot. (He had a game in the 7 slot during spring training, but apparently that experiment didn't work.) They asked him about hitting against himself and against Brandon Webb, but he didn't sound too keen about doing either.

Incidentally, Owings' average is "down" to .417 after a 1-for-3 performance in his last start.

The attention Owings is getting for his hitting is directly affecting his recent pitching performances in my opinion. Dude needs to stop reading his press clippings and focus on what got him to the bigs....PITCHING.

I've been wondering how that was working...back in the day of Babe Ruth, he didn't have the 24-7 newscycle, ESPN driven media to trumpet his accomplishments...

If he's that good a hitter, then IMHO the DBacks should be thrilled that they have a good pitcher who doesn't waste a turn at bat...and tell the kid to focus on his pitching...