So who hyped up this guy Owings.

[bgwilly31]

Well you guys jumped all over me for declaring him bad after 2 starts.

And now you guys declare him Great after 2 good starts.>?


I'll agree for sure the guy has seemed to turn a corner. I hope he keeps it up. Last night he pitched a great game regardless of the caliper of the team.

I hope he keeps it up.

[GIDP]

It not that hes great or bad. Hes a decent MLB pitcher who brings a lot of value because of his bat. He is Josh Fogg but with better k/9 and he carries a good stick to the plate.

He could still improve some also so he has that going for him. Id take a better version of Josh Fogg as our 5th starter and have zero problems about it. Especially when you consider his overall value to the team.

[schmidty622]

Originally Posted by GIDP

It not that hes great or bad. Hes a decent MLB pitcher who brings a lot of value because of his bat. He is Josh Fogg but with better k/9 and he carries a good stick to the plate.

He could still improve some also so he has that going for him. Id take a better version of Josh Fogg as our 5th starter and have zero problems about it. Especially when you consider his overall value to the team.

I don't know if he's Josh Fogg. Fogg was epically bad last year. I think Owings is a league average #4-5 starter. He's never going to have a sub 4 ERA but I think it is within his ability to have a ERA between 4.5 and 5.5 and provide us with about 150-180 innings.

In this day and age, that is a player that can be a valuable part of your team. And his value is magnified even more so due to his stellar bat.

[GIDP]

Originally Posted by Schmidty623

I don't know if he's Josh Fogg. Fogg was epically bad last year. I think Owings is a league average #4-5 starter. He's never going to have a sub 4 ERA but I think it is within his ability to have a ERA between 4.5 and 5.5 and provide us with about 150-180 innings.

In this day and age, that is a player that can be a valuable part of your team. And his value is magnified even more so due to his stellar bat.

I'm not talking about last years josh fogg. Josh Fogg has put up some good years of being a league average pitcher but I think its a good comparison.

[Kingspoint]

Originally Posted by redsfever09

.......and Owings is your winner!!!

Who would have thought Owings would out pitch the D-Backs ace?

Me.

[bgwilly31]

Originally Posted by Kingspoint

Me.

So now your saying owings is better than Haren. lol

[schmidty622]

Originally Posted by bgwilly31

So now your saying owings is better than Haren. lol

Obviously that's what was being said.

[PhillipsHead]

Owings beat up on a lineup of:

Lopez
Montero (him hitting 2 is a joke
Upton (halting his 18 game hit streak)
Reynolds
Byrnes
Whitesell
Young
Ojeda
Haren

To keep things in perspective, this is not a good lineup. There is a reason that this team is tanking right now -- mostly because they're bad. Nonetheless, I'm happy about his start and we need him to keep this up to anchor the back. I think our season relies a lot on Arroyo, Owings and our bats. I think Harang will be Harang, Cueto will be Cueto (and an All-Star), Volquez will be Volquez and the pen will be the pen. We need Owings to keep us in games against the tough lineups and beat up on the bad ones like the D-Backs...

[Bumstead]

Owings is doing his job as the #5 starter. He is keeping us in ballgames and giving us a chance to win. Potentially, I think he can maintain an ERA in the low 4's and give the Reds close to 200 IP. That would qualify him as one of the best #5 Starting Pitchers in the game. And, he won't go 2-9...:

Bum

[Kingspoint]

Originally Posted by bgwilly31

So now your saying owings is better than Haren. lol

No, but I did say this before the game yesterday:

No one knows what we are going to get from Owings in May of 2009.

Wait and see and you will be surprised.

Pitching is a craft where a player gets better with more experience. Owings is still young at only 280 innings and he's still developing his craft. He didn't get to develop it the second half of last season, so he needs some time where the games count for him to get into a groove. I'm looking forward to see how he adjusts to things this month, especially with the pitching staff in a groove right now.

It sucks for Owings that he has to face Dan Haren tonight.

He might have to throw a shutout to win.


Which, meant that I thought he was very capable of doing it last night.

In the "Predictions for May" thread, the only thing I mentioned was that I expected to see great improvement from Owings in May.

[Brutus]

Originally Posted by PhillipsHead

Owings beat up on a lineup of:

Lopez
Montero (him hitting 2 is a joke
Upton (halting his 18 game hit streak)
Reynolds
Byrnes
Whitesell
Young
Ojeda
Haren

To keep things in perspective, this is not a good lineup. There is a reason that this team is tanking right now -- mostly because they're bad. Nonetheless, I'm happy about his start and we need him to keep this up to anchor the back. I think our season relies a lot on Arroyo, Owings and our bats. I think Harang will be Harang, Cueto will be Cueto (and an All-Star), Volquez will be Volquez and the pen will be the pen. We need Owings to keep us in games against the tough lineups and beat up on the bad ones like the D-Backs...

Certainly, you are correct that he beat a less-than-stellar lineup. However, I'm not sure why anyone feels like it's necessary to make that qualifier.

Regardless of the competition, he's got an ERA of 4.33 and a WHIP of 1.42. While he's not struck out a tremendous number of guys, he's also not walking many, either. What's more is that his FIP, xERA, DIPS and other indicators of future performance measure his actual production at an ERA of around 4.50 to 4.60 - league average.

Put that in perspective. Cincinnati, right now, has a league average pitcher as their 5th starter. When most teams struggle to maintain a cumulative ERA of 5.00 from their last spot in the rotation, the Reds have a league-average pitcher winning games for them. I don't know about you, but I'll take a league-average pitcher winning games against mediocre offenses in the 5th spot every time around!

Owings is, and will never be, an ace. But when you keep in perspective his salary and also his role, he's turned in pretty satisfactory performances.

[schmidty622]

Originally Posted by Brutus the Pimp

Certainly, you are correct that he beat a less-than-stellar lineup. However, I'm not sure why anyone feels like it's necessary to make that qualifier.

Regardless of the competition, he's got an ERA of 4.33 and a WHIP of 1.42. While he's not struck out a tremendous number of guys, he's also not walking many, either. What's more is that his FIP, xERA, DIPS and other indicators of future performance measure his actual production at an ERA of around 4.50 to 4.60 - league average.

Put that in perspective. Cincinnati, right now, has a league average pitcher as their 5th starter. When most teams struggle to maintain a cumulative ERA of 5.00 from their last spot in the rotation, the Reds have a league-average pitcher winning games for them. I don't know about you, but I'll take a league-average pitcher winning games against mediocre offenses in the 5th spot every time around!

Owings is, and will never be, an ace. But when you keep in perspective his salary and also his role, he's turned in pretty satisfactory performances.

Booya

[TheBigLebowski]

Originally Posted by GIDP

It not that hes great or bad. Hes a decent MLB pitcher who brings a lot of value because of his bat. He is Josh Fogg but with better k/9 and he carries a good stick to the plate.

He could still improve some also so he has that going for him. Id take a better version of Josh Fogg as our 5th starter and have zero problems about it. Especially when you consider his overall value to the team.

If Micah Owings is Josh Fogg with a good bat, then I am Carrie Prejean without the surgically-enhanced chest.

[LouisvilleCARDS]

Originally Posted by PhillipsHead

Owings beat up on a lineup of:

Lopez
Montero (him hitting 2 is a joke
Upton (halting his 18 game hit streak)
Reynolds
Byrnes
Whitesell
Young
Ojeda
Haren

To keep things in perspective, this is not a good lineup. There is a reason that this team is tanking right now -- mostly because they're bad. Nonetheless, I'm happy about his start and we need him to keep this up to anchor the back. I think our season relies a lot on Arroyo, Owings and our bats. I think Harang will be Harang, Cueto will be Cueto (and an All-Star), Volquez will be Volquez and the pen will be the pen. We need Owings to keep us in games against the tough lineups and beat up on the bad ones like the D-Backs...

So, other pitchers don't play the low level teams of the world either? Jeez, the way some people react, it seems like some want him to fail so they can dislike him. I don't think anyone is saying he's awesome or anything, but he's certainly doing well, and much much better than what's expect from a #5 pitcher. If after another month of pitching he's doing fairly well and getting wins, I think people need to start to realize maybe he isn't that bad at all.

And just to keep things in perspective, I just picked a random year of Reds pitching over the past few years (any will do really) so I just pulled up the 2003 Reds. Lets take a look at that rotation (games pitched, W/L, ERA):

1 SP Danny Graves 29 4 15 5.33
2 SP Paul Wilson 30 8 10 4.64
3 SP Ryan Dempster 26 3 7 6.54
4 SP Jimmy Haynes 30 2 12 6.30

The good ole days, huh? A Micah Owings would have been the ACE of those teams. Since when do solid, but unspectacular, number FIVE starters nowadays because big deals? Especially for the Cincinnati Reds?

Oh, BTW, Bailey gave up 4 ER's in 6 IP in his loss today, raising his ERA to the high 4's.

[bgwilly31]

Originally Posted by LouisvilleCARDS

So, other pitchers don't play the low level teams of the world either? Jeez, the way some people react, it seems like some want him to fail so they can dislike him. I don't think anyone is saying he's awesome or anything, but he's certainly doing well, and much much better than what's expect from a #5 pitcher. If after another month of pitching he's doing fairly well and getting wins, I think people need to start to realize maybe he isn't that bad at all.

.

I think he was more responding to the posters that jumped in here after a single great start and Posted "PWND" Like he was the next allstar.