- Micah Owings
-
Micah Owings 
Arizona Diamondbacks — No. 15 Relief Pitcher Born: September 28, 1982
Cumming, GeorgiaBats: Right Throws: Right MLB debut April 6, 2007 for the Arizona Diamondbacks Career statistics
(through May 28, 2011)Win-Loss 25-31 Earned run average 5.07 Strikeouts 302 Teams - Arizona Diamondbacks (2007–2008)
- Cincinnati Reds (2009–2010)
- Arizona Diamondbacks (2011–present)
Career highlights and awards - Silver Slugger Award winner (2007)
Micah Burton Owings (born September 28, 1982 in Cumming, Georgia) is a Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher currently pitching for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Owings finished the 2007 season with a memorable performance in his home state, a shutout, and an impressive batting record, which earned him the 2007 Silver Slugger Award[1] for excellence at the plate.
Contents
Early life and career
Owings holds Georgia's high school home run record with 69, fourth in the nation only to Drew Henson, Jeff Clement, and James Peterson. As a sophomore, he hit .630 with 21 homers; as a senior he hit .448 with 25 home runs while going 12-1 on the mound with a 1.03 ERA, 121 strikeouts, and 3 walks in 75 innings. Owings played his freshman and sophomore seasons at Forsyth Central High School in Cumming and transferred to Gainesville High School as a junior.
Owings played college baseball at Georgia Tech in 2003 and 2004 before transferring to Tulane University in New Orleans. He led the Tulane Green Wave to a number one national ranking for most of the season with the team finishing its play in the College World Series (2005).[2]
He was selected by the Colorado Rockies in the 2nd round (50th overall) in the 2002 Major League Baseball Draft, but did not sign with them. He was selected again in 2003 in the 19th round (576th overall) by the Chicago Cubs and again chose not to sign. In 2005, he was selected in the third round by the Arizona Diamondbacks (83rd overall).
After signing with Arizona, he was assigned to the Single-A Lancaster JetHawks. He pitched in 16 games out of the bullpen, going 1-1 with a 2.45 ERA. In 2006, he played in Double-A and Triple-A for the Tennessee Smokies and the Tucson Sidewinders, respectively. He made 12 starts for the Smokies and went 6-2 with a 2.88 ERA. His stats in Triple-A were impressive, in which he went 10-0 with a respectable 3.75 ERA in 15 starts.
Major league career
Owings was a long shot to make the Diamondbacks' Opening Day roster in 2007, but was ultimately named the fifth starter[3] over Enrique González, Dana Eveland, Dustin Nippert, and Yusmeiro Petit.[4] Owings made his major league debut on April 6, 2007, against the Washington Nationals. He pitched five shutout innings, allowing only one hit, and striking out six. Originally brought up to fill a starter spot while Randy Johnson recovered from back surgery, management was very impressed by his performances. On July 26, Owings hit his first Major League home run against Byung-Hyun Kim of the Florida Marlins.[5]
Owings was having an uneventful season in the major leagues in 2007 until he faced the Atlanta Braves on August 18, 2007. He pitched 7.0 innings, allowing three hits and three earned runs, striking out seven. His batting performance made it a career night. Owings went 4 for 5, including two home runs, scoring four times with six RBI.[6] He is the first pitcher with four hits, four runs and six RBI in the same game. The last pitcher in the Major Leagues to record four hits and four runs was Danny Jackson in 1988. Owings' 11 total bases are the most by a pitcher in the last 50 seasons. The last Arizona player to have four hits, two homers, four runs and six RBI was Shea Hillenbrand in 2003. He was the first Diamondbacks pitcher to have 2 home runs in one game. The Diamondbacks would later win, 12-6.
Following two particularly poor outings in early September 2007, Owings pitched his first Major League shutout on September 18, 2007, allowing only two hits against the San Francisco Giants.[7]
Later in 2007, on September 27, Owings made an emergency start in place of Brandon Webb and pitched 6 1/3 innings of shutout ball, while going 4-for-4 at the plate with three doubles and three RBI. He became the first pitcher since Whitey Ford to have two 4-hit games in one season. His batting average of .333 for the 2007 season ranks fourth best for pitchers with more than 50 ABs (20 hits in 60 at bats) since 1973, the beginning of the designated hitter era (in the American League).
On December 5, 2007, the Arizona Republic newspaper reported that the Diamondbacks were considering playing Owings at first base during the days that he was not pitching, in an effort to get his potent bat into the lineup on a more regular basis. [8]
On April 30, 2008, Owings had a pinch-hit 2-run home run against the Houston Astros. It was the first pinch homer by a pitcher in the majors in more than four years. Brooks Kieschnick of the Milwaukee Brewers had last done it against Matt Mantei of the Arizona Diamondbacks on April 22, 2004.[9]
On June 4, 2008, manager Bob Melvin inserted Owings 8th in the batting order at Milwaukee. The Diamondbacks lost 10-1 to Milwaukee.[10]
On August 11, 2008, the Cincinnati Reds traded left fielder Adam Dunn to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Dallas Buck and two players to be named, who were later revealed as Wilkin Castillo on August 14 and Owings on September 12.[11]
On Wednesday, July 21, 2010, the Reds optioned Owings to the Triple-A Louisville Bats.[12]
On Tuesday, August 17, 2010, the Reds designated Owings for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for Yasmani Grandal, the Reds' 2010 first round draft pick, whom they signed to a Major League contract.[13] Reds GM Walt Jocketty stated that Owings had requested a trade "to another club that would have a better future for him".[14] On August 26, 2010, the Reds announced that Owings had cleared waivers and had accepted an outright assignment to the Triple-A Louisville Bats.[15]
Owings signed a minor league deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2011, and he would try out at first base, along with his normal starting pitcher role. Micah Owings was recalled from the Triple-A Reno Aces May 21, 2011 to take the roster spot opened by the release of Russell Branyan.[16]
References
- ^ "Seven first-timers win Silver Sluggers". MLB.com. MLB.com. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071109&content_id=2296988&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb. Retrieved 2007-11-09.
- ^ "Player Bio: Micah Owings". TulaneGreenWave.com. Tulane Athletic Association. http://tulanegreenwave.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/mtt/owings_micah00.html. Retrieved 2007-09-16.
- ^ Gilbert, Steve (2007-03-30). "Notes: Owings named the No. 5 starter". MLB.com. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070330&content_id=1871001&vkey=spt2007news&fext=.jsp. Retrieved 2009-10-01.
- ^ Gilbert, Steve (2007-03-26). "Notes: Struggles opening door No. 5?". http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070326&content_id=1860821&vkey=spt2007news&fext=.jsp&c_id=ari. Retrieved 2009-10-01.
- ^ Owings' two run shot, Arizona Diamondbacks. Published July 26, 2007.
- ^ Owings goes 4-for-5, Arizona Diamondbacks. Published August 18, 2007.
- ^ "Owings stellar as D-backs stay on top". MLB.com. MLB.com. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/gameday_recap.jsp?ymd=20070918&content_id=2215466&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb. Retrieved 2007-09-19.
- ^ "Who's on 1st? Maybe Owings". azcentral.com. azcentral.com. http://www.azcentral.com/sports/diamondbacks/articles/1205dbnotes1205.html. Retrieved 2007-12-05.
- ^ The Official Site of Major League Baseball: News: Major League Baseball News
- ^ June 4, 2008 Arizona Diamondbacks at Milwaukee Brewers Play by Play and Box Score - Baseball-Reference.com
- ^ D-backs send Owings to Cincinnati to complete trade
- ^ Reds option Owings, recall Fisher
- ^ Reds designate Owings for assignment
- ^ Jocketty: Owings wanted to get new start
- ^ [1]
- ^ . 2011-05-20. http://www.azcentral.com/sports/diamondbacks/articles/2011/05/20/20110520arizona-diamondbacks-release-russell-branyan.html. Retrieved 2011-05-21.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
- Micah Owings scouting report from Dugout Central
- Micah Owings personal homepage
National League Pitcher Silver Slugger Award 1980: Forsch | 1981: Valenzuela | 1982: Robinson | 1983: Valenzuela | 1984: Rhoden | 1985: Rhoden | 1986: Rhoden | 1987: Forsch | 1988: Leary | 1989: Robinson | 1990: Robinson | 1991: Glavine | 1992: Gooden | 1993: Hershiser | 1994: Portugal | 1995: Glavine | 1996: Glavine | 1997: Smoltz | 1998: Glavine | 1999: Hampton | 2000: Hampton | 2001: Hampton | 2002: Hampton | 2003: Hampton | 2004: Hernández | 2005: Marquis | 2006: Zambrano | 2007: Owings | 2008: Zambrano | 2009: Zambrano | 2010: Gallardo | 2011: HudsonInactive roster Disabled list 6 Stephen Drew | 21 Jason Marquis
Coaching Staff Manager 23 Kirk Gibson | Bench Coach 3 Alan Trammell | 1st Base Coach 7 Eric Young | 3rd Base Coach 9 Matt Williams | Hitting Coach 25 Don Baylor | Pitching Coach 50 Charles Nagy | Bullpen Coach 53 Glenn Sherlock | Bullpen Catcher 82 Jeff Motuzas | Coach 80 Wilson Valera
Categories:- 1982 births
- Living people
- Major League Baseball pitchers
- Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets baseball players
- Tulane Green Wave baseball players
- Baseball players from Georgia (U.S. state)
- Lancaster JetHawks players
- Tennessee Smokies players
- Tucson Sidewinders players
- Arizona Diamondbacks players
- Cincinnati Reds players
- People from Hall County, Georgia
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