Chris Owings

WTM’S PLAYER PROFILE

2009
R+:  306/324/426, 108 AB, 5 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 3 BB, 25 K, 3-3 SB

Arizona sent Owings to advanced rookie ball, which was a slightly aggressive assignment.  He hit well, but his walk and K rates were awful.  He played exclusively at short.  Baseball America ranked him fifth in the D’backs’ system after the season.

2010
A:  298/323/447, 255 AB, 19 2B, 2 3B, 5 HR, 9 BB, 50 K, 1-4 SB 

Still playing short exclusively, Owings did well in full season ball, albeit still with an extremely low walk rate.  BA ranked him fourth in the system.

2011
A+:  246/274/388, 521 AB, 29 2B, 6 3B, 11 HR, 15 BB, 130 K, 10-14 SB 

In high A, Owings ran into trouble despite being in the high-offense California League.  His plate discipline numbers were abysmal.  BA still ranked him seventh in the system.

2012
A+:  324/362/544, 241 AB, 16 2B, 2 3B, 11 HR, 13 BB, 63 K, 8-11 SB
AA:  263/291/377, 297 AB, 10 2B, 3 3B, 6 HR, 11 BB, 69 K, 4-7 SB 

Arizona sent Owings back to high A and he hit far better, although still with a very low walk rate.  He moved up to AA at mid-season and struggled, again with terrible plate discipline.  BA continued to rank him seventh in the system.

2013
AAA:  330/359/482, 546 AB, 31 2B, 8 3B, 12 HR, 22 BB, 99 K, 20-27 SB
MLB:  291/361/382, 55 AB, 5 2B, 6 BB, 10 K, 2-2 SB

Owings went to AAA and had a big year, although he still wasn’t willing to take a walk.  Arizona called him up in September.  BA ranked him third in the system.

2014
R:  571/700/571, 7 AB, 3 BB, 5-5 SB
AAA:  250/250/275, 40 AB, 1 2B, 9 K, 3-3 SB
MLB:  261/300/407, 310 AB, 15 2B, 6 3B, 6 HR, 16 BB, 67 K, 8-9 SB

Owings opened the season as the Arizona shortstop, but he ultimately missed nearly half the season due to a shoulder injury.  In the majors he hit reasonably well, with his usual very low walk rate but not too bad a K rate.  When Owings returned to the majors, he moved to second as Arizona had Nick Ahmed and Didi Gregorius at short.

2015
MLB:  227/264/322, 515 AB, 27 2B, 5 3B, 4 HR, 26 BB, 144 K, 16-20 SB

Owings spent the season primarily playing second, with Ahmed at short.  His hitting fell off badly, with his K rate shooting upward.

2016
R:  200/333/200, 5 AB, 1 BB, 1 K, 1-1 SB
AAA:  611/667/944, 18 AB, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 3 BB, 3 K, 0-1 SB
MLB:  277/315/417, 437 AB, 24 2B, 11 3B, 5 HR, 20 BB, 87 K, 21-23 SB

Owings split his time between center field and short, as Ahmed missed the second half of the season.  Owings himself missed six weeks due to plantar fasciitis.  His hitting rebounded to his more typical decent average and power, and little patience.

2017
MLB:  268/300/442, 362 AB, 25 2B, 1 3B, 12 HR, 17 BB, 87 K, 12-14 SB

Owings divided his time between short, second and right field.  He hit much the same as the previous year, and missed the last two months due to a fractured finger.

2018
AAA:  286/294/407, 91 AB, 4 2B, 2 3B, 1 HR, 1 BB, 17 K, 1-3 SB
MLB:  206/272/303, 281 AB, 15 2B, 4 HR, 24 BB, 75 K, 11-15 SB

Owings shifted to a utility role, playing in the outfield more than anywhere else.  He drew a decent number of walks, but his hitting largely collapsed.  After the season he became a free agent and signed a one-year deal with the Royals.

2019
AAA (Bos):  325/385/595, 163 AB, 11 2B, 11 HR, 15 BB, 50 K, 6-10 SB
MLB (KC):  133/193/222, 135 AB, 4 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 8 BB, 55 K, 4-5 SB
MLB (Bos):  156/255/267, 45 AB, 2 2B, 1 HR, 6 BB, 23 K, 1-2 SB

With Kansas City, Owings continued in a utility role, but his hitting really collapsed.  The Royals released him at the beginning of June and he signed a minor league deal with Boston.  The Red Sox called him up in August and his troubles at the plate continued.  After the season, Boston removed him from the roster and he signed a minor league deal with Colorado.

2020
MLB:  268/318/439, 41 AB, 1 2B, 2 HR, 3 BB, 11 K, 1-1 SB

The Rockies called Owings up for the start of the pandemic season.  He served in a utility role for them, but he missed most of the last six weeks with a hamstring injury, so in the end he didn’t play much.  The Rockies removed him from the roster after the season and he became a free agent, but he re-signed with Colorado on a minor league deal.

2021
AAA:  167/211/444, 18 AB, 2 2B, 1 HR, 1 BB, 6 K
MLB:  326/420/628, 43 AB, 4 2B, 3 3B, 1 HR, 7 BB, 15 K, 2-3 SB

The Rockies added Owings to their roster in spring training, but he didn’t get a chance to play much.  He missed over two months early in the season, then two and a half months at the end of the season, with thumb injuries.  He became a free agent after the season and signed a minor league deal with the Orioles.

2022
AAA (NYY):  235/303/412, 187 AB, 7 2B, 1 3B, 8 HR, 18 BB, 52 K, 5-7 SB
MLB (Balt):  107/254/143, 56 AB, 2 2B, 10 BB, 24 K, 1-1 SB

The Orioles called Owings up at the beginning of the season, but his hitting stayed in collapse mode.  Baltimore released him in June and he caught on with the Yankees, spending the rest of the season in AAA.  After the season he signed a minor league deal with the Pirates.

Owings doesn’t fit any need for the Pirates, depth or otherwise.  They have plenty of younger infielders with far more upside.  Derek Shelton, though, has a history of giving large amounts of playing time to very poorly performing veterans he considers to be good clubhouse guys.  That practice has done a lot of damage to the Pirates over the last three years.  Initially, in spring training it looked like the pattern would repeat itself, but after the Pirates obtained Mark Mathias, they seemed more interested in him and Owen was reassigned to Indianapolis.  He had the option to opt out, but accepted the assignment, so he’ll be taking playing time from younger, more promising players.

UPDATE:  With Oneil Cruz hurt, the Pirates predictably called Owings up in early May.  He would have been up earlier, but he was hurt.  He’s proven over many years that he can’t hit major league pitching or play short on more than an occasional basis, but with veteran players, poor track records never mean anything to the Pirates.

Owings predictably was awful with the Pirates.  He went 4-for-25 with no walks and a dozen strikeouts, culminating in an embarrassing performance in which he twice failed to get bunts down with runners moving.  The Pirates designated him for assignment in early June.  Unsurprisingly, he cleared waivers and was outrighted to AAA.