Hitting Pitchers

by PittsburghStealer on Mar 7, 2008 4:45 PM EST

Obliviously you must consider the source, but today on Rome is burning Jim Rome was talkin about Owings and how he might bat 7th when he pitches, and Rome said he has good stuff, mentioned his good season last year and then suggested in all serious that they move Owings to get him in the lineup everyday, and added "his pitching is getting in the way of a great career." I think he's crazy but I was just wondering all fielding aspects aside could any big league pitchers hit well enough to play everyday?

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adam eaton might get this opportunity

i hear that after he gave up 4 runs and 5 hits in his last outing (2 IP), they handed him a 1st baseman's mitt.

he then claimed to have been pitching through back pain, and has since had an MRI scan that revealed nothing.

ORGANIZATIONAL DEPTH REPORTS (Astros: better than you thought)

variables don't; constants aren't

by overlord on Mar 7, 2008 4:49 PM EST 0 recs

Ankiel?

Z is a heck of a hitter. I'm sure there are a few that could.

by jfish26101 on Mar 7, 2008 5:15 PM EST 0 recs

Gallardo

Had an .800+ OPS in the minors last year (and a career .311/.354/.444 line along with a .750 OPS in the majors.

In other words, it's another area of the game where he's better than Lincecum.

by Galt on Mar 7, 2008 5:27 PM EST 0 recs

ohh shit

now that Lincecum is mentioned there will be at least 50 replies to this thread.

by nyy601 on Mar 7, 2008 5:38 PM EST up 0 recs

Timmy's hitting

Timmy has one of the sweetest swings to ever have graced a baseball diamond. I should know, I have personally witnessed over 90% of these swings (and seen the others on video). I am not a hitting guru, but I have micro-analyzed every aspect of his swing, and it is, in a word, perfect

He has perfect balance in his swing which reminds one of Pujols, except better. There's no way for me to back this up, but I think you could put 10 men behind a battering ram and have them run at Timmy, and he would gracefully use his balance and gymnast-like core strength to send them flying in the opposite direction, followed by Timmy immediately turning around and creaming a Tim Wakefield knuckleball.

His wrists are lightening quick, with reflexes that could only have been handed down by Hermes himself (in one still-shot I looked at, the shadows behind Timmy's swing looked to make the form of angel's wings. Coincidence? I think not).

I'm not certain, but I think a ground ball is an actual impossibility given his swing, but just in case there was a doubt, Timmy did win a foot race versus highly touted Giants SS / speedster Emmanuel Burriss just yesterday in spring training.

I could be wrong, but it's possible Timmy will shatter hitting records we thought would never be touched

/Sharks

-1 and only member of the Jed Lowrie fan club!

by Jgaztambide on Mar 7, 2008 6:11 PM EST 0 recs

I heard

he actually gave Burriss a 10 yard head start and put a blind fold on, but still won with ease.

The real question is if Tim Lincecum pitched to himself what would happen? The world would most likely just blow up since it would be impossible to have that much greatness in one AB.

by nyy601 on Mar 7, 2008 6:38 PM EST up 0 recs

Handed down by Hermes himself

priceless. great work!

gogotabata: "I'm like the biggest Walden fan around here (adult division)..."

by siddfynch on Mar 7, 2008 6:47 PM EST up 0 recs

Timmy

Isn't Timmy coaching both A-Rod and Albert Pujols on hitting ability?

by demondeaconbaseball on Mar 7, 2008 9:16 PM EST up 0 recs

welp...

...even if Owings is a #4-type starter, that still has a lot more value to the D-Backs than if he were a mediocre 1B. The only way it makes sense to turn a pitcher into a hitter is if the guy can't pitch anyway, or if he is capable of being a true star hitter. Examples of the former case -- the guys who might as well become hitters since they can't pitch anyway -- would be Ankiel or, if the Pirates ever figure it out, Van Benschoten. I don't think there are any examples of the latter case, other than Babe Ruth. If a guy is capable of being a legitimate star hitter, his team would have to be pretty freakin' stupid to have drafted and brought him through their system as a pitcher. So no, I doubt there is any halfway decent pitcher who would be more valuable to the team as a hitter than he is as a pitcher.

and boom goes the dynamite.

by Mean Dean on Mar 7, 2008 6:13 PM EST 0 recs

If Owings could play shortstop,

or catcher, he could play everyday. (Moving to shortstop when he leaves the game as a pitcher on days he's starting.)

Unfortunately for Arizona, he's a 1B/corner type at best defensively, at which positions he won't hit enough in the long run to stick.

by PaulThomas on Mar 7, 2008 7:57 PM EST 0 recs

Just curious

But what is it about his hitting that would doom him as a full-time hitter? Does he have a specific swing problem or something? I'm pretty sure i saw that he'd set some sort of high school record as a hitter, which makes me wonder what element wouldn't work at higher levels. Can you break it down for us?

gogotabata: "I'm like the biggest Walden fan around here (adult division)..."

by siddfynch on Mar 7, 2008 8:25 PM EST up 0 recs

Dtrain

Dontrelle Willis is worth a mention. He had a .860 OPS last year, a two homerun game vs Carlos Zambrano two years ago. He runs the bases as well and aggressively as any pitcher I've seen. At 6'5", 240lbs he'd make a solid RFer....

by ScottAZ on Mar 7, 2008 8:49 PM EST 0 recs

LF....

his arm sucks. Keep him out of RF!

Just kidding, he was the first person I thought of too when I read this, and unlike most, I still have a high opinion of him, I think the move to Detroit will do wonders for him.

Most of the pitchers have been named. Timmy, Fat Z, Willis, Gallardo, Owings. Also, I seem to remember Washburn being pretty decent in interleague games a few years back when he was still kicking ass for the Angels. Haven't checked to see if he still does okay or if that was just like one lucky stretch. (By the way, I was joking about Timmy).

"My mom always taught me it's better to laugh at yourself than to laugh at others. She was so wrong. ;)" -Pedrophile

by Boxkutter on Mar 7, 2008 9:27 PM EST up 0 recs