How this works
Every other day, from now through to Christmas, we'll open up discussion on a particular player who made a meaningful contribution to the 2014 Diamondbacks. [I've drawn the line at 125 PA or 20 innings] There will be two sections. Firstly, a poll where you rate them from 5 ("Highly satisfied") down to 1 ("Very dissatisfied"): it's entirely up to you what criteria you use for the number. Secondly, the comments below, where you can talk about the reasons for your vote, etc. Things to discuss include, but are not limited to:
- Pre-season expectations
- 2014 performance: strengths and weaknesses, etc.
- Health and other mitigating factors
- How they'll help the team in 2015, their role, etc.
Three days down the line, we'll collate the votes, calculate a final average score, and write up the consensus of SnakePit thought into an appraisal. Here is a quick overview of today's candidate for your consideration.
Additional bonus! Going forward. we'll also have a "Comment of the Thread" for the appraisal, so please rec the comments you find insightful, funny, or whatever.
Chris Owings - SS
- DOB: 08/12/1991
- 2014 salary: $500,000
- 2014 performance: 91 G, 332 PA, .261 BA, .300 OBP, .706 SLG, 95 OPS+, 6 HR
- 2014 value: 1.9 bWAR, 1.8 fWAR
Going into the 2014 season, the Diamondbacks had Chris Owings and Didi Gregorius competing for the honor of being the team's starting short stop. By the end of April, Owings' superior bat carried the day and he was installed as the starting short stop, with Gregorius eventually being designated to Reno.
Owings came out of the gate strong, batting .313 for March and April. He struggled at the plate in May, but his surprising glove work, along with his speed kept him in the everyday lineup. By June, Owings had found his bat again and was looking like a very strong candidate for NL Rookie of the Year honors.
As fate would have it though, Chris Owings' season came to a crashing halt on June 20th when he collided with San Francisco Giants catcher Hector Sanchez while attempting to score on an inside-the-park home run.
For all intents and purposes, the injury benched Owings until September 2nd. September was unkind to Owings at the plate, though it was later revealed that Owings was still feeling the effects of the injury even in September, making a credible case that his poor numbers in the month were indeed the result of injury and not simply due to Owings falling off at the plate once the league got a look at him.
Going into 2015, Diamondbacks infield is in largely the same situation it was going into 2014. Owings and Gregorius remain the top two candidates to start at short stop, while it would appear that Dave Stewart intends to retain Cliff Pennington as the utility infielder. It seems unlikely though that Owings will lose his position as the team's starter unless he completely implodes during Spring Training. Of course, a trade of Aaron Hill during the winter could drastically alter that future.