Chris Owings has seen plenty throughout an MLB career that has touched parts of 10 seasons. The latest experience included some irony, as the Pirates promoted the veteran utility man from Triple-A Indianapolis on Monday.
The Pirates will mark Owings' sixth team. He was in the starting lineup against the Rockies, for whom Owings played in 2020-21. This weekend he'll return to Baltimore to play the Orioles, for whom he suited up in 2023.
"I'm excited about it," Owings said. "It's ironic to see who we're playing."
Owings has also seen time with the Diamondbacks and Royals throughout 712 games in the big leagues (prior to Monday). Owings is a lifetime .240 hitter and has a .653 OPS.
To make room for Owings on the major league roster, Mark Mathias was optioned to Triple-A.
While general manager Ben Cherington and manager Derek Shelton talked about Mathias wanting to work on things and struggling to handle the sporadic playing time, the move with Owings seemingly carries more weight than wanting to swap out utility types.
As much as the Pirates say they love Rodolfo Castro, he had been experiencing issues defensively at shortstop, a position he was forced to play when Oneil Cruz got hurt. Castro lead the Pirates with seven errors prior to Monday. Ji Hwan Bae (6) was second and Mathias (3) third.
Although Owings talked about feeling better with a revamping swing, shortening up and once again tapping his toe as a timing mechanism, the Pirates are sacrificing offense for defense here ... and it probably makes sense.
"The ability to play shortstop was something that was important to us," Shelton said. "We wanted to make sure we gave ourselves more functionality."
Owings has played six positions during his major league career and but none more than shortstop, where he’s spent over 2,000 major league innings.
In 15 games with the Pirates this season, Mathias has hit .275 with a .695 OPS, amassing six walks and nine strikeouts in 46 plate appearances. Mathias probably didn't help himself when he failed to cut off a throw down to second from Austin Hedges during a first-and-third play last week in Tampa.
Castro has been similarly inconsistent. In 33 games, he has hit .258 with a .766 OPS, walking 11 times and totaling 29 strikeouts in 109 plate appearances. There have been some spectacular plays, but Castro has also struggled to make some of the routine ones, like when he allowed a ball to trickle under his glove in Tampa.
"Young players are gonna continue to play," Cherington said. "We saw an opportunity to add a little bit of defensive stability in the middle infield. Chris has been doing this for a long time."
Owings spent a couple of weeks on the seven-day injured list with Triple-A Indianapolis because of a groin injury but was activated on May 2. While playing primarily shortstop, Owings has hit .273 with an .883 OPS in 13 games with the Indians.
For much of spring training, it looked like Owings would make the major league club — but he cooled off late. He wound up hitting .250 with two doubles, a home run and four RBIs in 17 games.
Shortstop should be Owings' primary position, although Shelton said he could see some reps in center field as well.
"I’m just excited to get the opportunity again," Owings said. "Coming into spring training, the opportunity was there. Played hard. Played well.
"I'm feeling good, feeling healthy. So, just excited to be back and get an opportunity to play. The team’s played well so far. I know they’ve hit a little bit of a skid, but I’m excited to be a part of it."
Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG.
First Published: May 8, 2023, 2:41 p.m.
Updated: May 8, 2023, 9:45 p.m.
