CNATI: Cincinnati OH Sports Journalism

Spring Training 2010

Owings, Price reunited

By C. Trent Rosecrans, CNATI.com Posted March 12, 2010 9:39 AM ET

GOODYEAR, Ariz. - It's no coincidence, Micah Owings said, that his best seasons as a big league pitcher came with Bryan Price as his pitching coach.

Price, the Reds' new pitching coach, was the Diamondbacks' pitching coach when Owings made his Major League debut in 2007 and in 2008 before Owings was traded to Cincinnati as part of the trade that ended Adam Dunn's Reds career.

As a rookie in 2007, Owings was one of only four rookies to record a shutout and had 14 quality starts and 106 strikeouts. In his first four starts of 2008, he was 2-0 with a 2.42 ERA before struggling down the stretch.

When the Reds named Price their pitching coach in October, Owings immediately texted Price.

"I'm going back to the things that made me successful. When I got there (to spring training) he had an idea and we worked within that. He also gave me a few things here and there that he thought would improve my game without doing a big change," Owings said. "His knowledge and the guys he's been around, some of the staffs he's had. You'd be a fool not to listen. Being able to take the pieces that help and avoid the ones that may not help you as much. That's been my challenge. I've tried to pick a lot of guy's brains that I've played with in Arizona and here, but remembering to get back to the core of what makes me successful."

Price was the pitching coach for the Diamondbacks from 2006-09 and for the Mariners in 2000-05. He was named Baseball America's Major League Coach of the Year in 2007 when the Diamondbacks made the NLCS. In 2001, he was USA Today Baseball Weekly's Pitching Coach of the Year with the Mariners and was Baseball Prospectus' Major League Coach of the Year in 2000 in Seattle.

Price was happy to be reunited with Owings, as well. Owings started a game in the 2007 NLCS for Price and the Diamondbacks.

"First and foremost, if you watch Micah for a long time, he competes. You can't say that about every guy. There are guys who just don't have the stomach for the game. He's got the stomach," Price said. "He's got the work ethic and the desire to continue to learn. We've got to harness the desire to be too much of a pitcher, but be an athlete and don't go out there and be too methodical. For the type of pitcher he is, he doesn't have to outthink himself."

And that, Price said, is why Owings is well-suited for the role he know finds himself in - a long reliever. Owings has thrown one inning so far this spring and is scheduled to pitch again in Friday's game against the Dodgers, where he is expected to throw two innings in relief of Bronson Arroyo.

"For me, personally, I like what he was able to do for the club out of the bullpen, it's not that I don't believe in him as a starter, but where we are with our four guys, I think we have as much need in our middle as I do for a fifth starter," Price said. "I like the fact that coming out of the bullpen, he doesn't have to come up with a gameplan and do all that prep stuff. He needs to come out. He's a naturally aggressive guy. I have not written this guy off as a Major League starter by any means. I like him and I like his attitude and demeanor at this state in the bullpen and coming in there and pounding, and not being too methodical. He'd probably admit that when he gets in trouble, he's a little more methodical, instead of letting his natural aggression going out there and doing the job."

Owings said he's fine doing whatever he needs to do to make the team. The Reds are looking at several candidates for the fifth starter's position, and he may have to fight some of the castoffs for that job for the long man's position out of the bullpen.

One of the things that adds to his value out of the bullpen is his value off the bench. If the Reds get to the fifth or sixth inning and don't need their long man, Owings could then come to the dugout and serve as another bench player, to be used in pinch-hitting situations. Owings is a career .300 hitter with eight home runs in the 170 career at-bats.

Last season, he was 4-for-16 as a pinch hitter for the Reds, hitting a game-tying home run off Ryan Franklin in a May 10 game against the Cardinals, one of two pinch-hit home runs in his career. It was Franklin's first blown save of the season. He also managed the game-winning RBI with a pinch-hit, two-run double against the Astros last April. It was his third game-winning RBI as a pinch-hitter in his career. In the last five seasons, only one other pitcher has a pinch-hit, game-winning RBI.

In essence, Owings gives you two players in one roster spot, a pinch hitter and a long reliever. He's a one-man double switch.

"There are some really good players who are offensive players as hitters, but the thing I think that's different with Micah is that Micah's really a hitter," Price said. "I don't think that he's a guy who was a good college hitter who couldn't have gone on and into professional baseball as a hitter. This guy's got a lot of weapons. He can think along with a pitcher, he can hit a breaking ball, he can zone out pitches. He does a lot of things as a hitter very well. So that, of course, is the teaser.

"The teaser is that this guy is a two-way player, he can help you off the bench, he can come in in the fourth inning and pick up a guy after a rain delay or a tough start by your starter and keep himself in the game with his bat. How many managers have an opportunity to deal with that luxury? For me, personally as a pitching guy, I don't want to voice my opinion as what he can do as an offensive player, because he's paid to pitch. If he does end up in the bullpen, what a great weapon for Dusty and our team."

Categories: Cincinnati Reds, Featured Stories, Spring Training 2010

Tags: Bryan Price, Micah Owings