Owings

Not every story coming out of spring training has a happy ending. The Pittsburgh Pirates are finishing up their season-opening homestand this weekend against the Chicago White Sox at PNC Park.

The Indianapolis Indians, the Pirates’ Triple-A affiliate, has yet to play a home game this International League season. They are finishing up a nine-game road trip in Louisville, Kentucky.

Longtime baseball super utilityman Chris Owings is with the Indians in Louisville this Sunday. The 10-season MLB veteran much rather be wearing a Pirates uniform, looking forward to the next three games playing against the visiting Houston Astros.

So, how does Owings get from Indianapolis to Pittsburgh?

Practice, Be lucky? Be Patient? Pray?

Like so many looking for the very small amount of MLB roster spaces (each team has a 26-man active roster), Owings is on the outside looking in. Then again, back on February 2 when he signed a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training, the veteran of 712 MLB games knew he would be a long shot to make the Opening Day roster.

Athletes like Owings are interesting to follow. From being accustomed to flying charter jets and staying in first-class lodgings while on the road, life in the minors is traveling primarily by bus and staying in motels not named Four Seasons.

The "Rocky“ fight in Owings continues on.

After 28 games played by the Bradenton-based Pirates this spring, Owings got the word he wasn’t heading north with the big club. On March 25, the night the Pirates were entertaining the Baltimore Orioles at LECOM Park, Owings was reassigned to their minor league camp at Pirate City.

As Pittsburgh’s manager Derek Shelton whittled down his roster to 32, and still needed to cut an additional half dozen players, Owings decided not to opt out of his contract. He would accept his assignment to the club’s top minor league affiliate. At 31, Owings, the journeyman, would have to put up one heck of a baseball fight to make it back to the "promised land.“

Owings is the underdog that fans like to get behind. Granted, seeing action in 17 Pirates spring games, and batting an anemic .250 did not help his cause in being on the Pirates’ Opening Day roster. But the guy hustled like no other on the field. He demonstrates the same grit when throwing on a uniform much the same way as the legendary Pete Rose did for many seasons.

Now, with 27 games under his belt in 2022 while playing for the Baltimore Orioles, Owings batted an embarrassing .107. Last June 13, the Orioles released Owings. He played out the rest of the summer in the New York Yankees’ minor league system.

Could it be it is the end of the line for Owings’ playing days on the MLB level? Perhaps. When a guy has played seven of nine positions (Owings has not played catcher or as a first baseman), this type of versatility is tough to ignore.

By not opting out of his deal with the Pirates, Owings is demonstrating a commitment to the organization. Listed at 5-foot-10 and 185 pounds, the utility player still has a fight left in him. Two games into the Indians’ opening series this season with the Omaha Storm Chasers, Owings had a total of five at-bats. He registered one walk and one strikeout.

These are not numbers that player development executives in Pittsburgh take notice of. But this is only one weekend of play. For now, instead of playing in an MLB stadium with a capacity for 38,362 fans in Pittsburgh, Owings is getting used to the Indians’ home field – Victory Field. 13,750 seats

are available for Indianapolis baseball fans at any given game.

Shortly before his reassignment to the Pirates’ minor league camp, Owings spoke positively about his chances of joining the Major League team in 2023.

"My confidence is high. Really all that I could ask for is an opportunity to show what I could do for the club,“ said Owings in the Pirates’ LECOM Park clubhouse. "Over the winter I hit the weight room and hit in the cage.“

While saying and doing all the right things down in Indianapolis to remain focused on bettering his game, Owings must be looking over his shoulder at all the potential competition he is facing. Being called up to the Pirates translates into being bumped ahead of stars-in-waiting Travis Swaggerty, Mark Mathias, and Miguel Andujar.

The Pirates’ pecking order is long and competitive.

By now, memories of games played at LECOM Park and around the Grapefruit League must be distant for Owings. Having played for five MLB clubs, including with the Arizona Diamondbacks the first six seasons of his career, employment insecurity comes with the territory of being a professional ballplayer.

"When I was in Arizona, I felt like I was never going to leave. Then, my first year away with the Royals was a shock. Hardly anyone stays with one team anymore.“

For now, playing baseball in Pennsylvania’s Allegheny County is taking a back seat to staying in game shape, perfecting fundamentals, scoreboard watching, and most importantly checking the transactions being executed by the Pirates’ minor league department. Owings is a survivor who wants one more MLB lifeline to take advantage of. Athletes like Owings would be wrong to bet against.