Prospect Watch: Hunter Owen Banking on Versatility as Path to Big Leagues
When you are making the climb to the Major Leagues as a young player, versatility is a good quality to have. For Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Hunter Owen, he has that on his side as he has played seven of the nine positions on the field more than once in a season. His primary position is third base, with over 2,000 innings of play at the position. He has consistently kept his batting average in the .260 to .290 range and has played sure defense at every position that he has played. After an adjustment period, he has found his footing at every level of the Minor Leagues and made the jump to Triple-A Indianapolis for the first time I'm his career thanks to some injuries at the Major League level.
The 2019 season saw Owen continued to show the same batting average that he had for the past three seasons, but added a power stroke to his game. Between Double-A and Triple-A last season, Owen hit .261 with 19 home runs and 53 RBI. While his Triple-A numbers weren't the best, it was still a successful season for Owen and one that saw him play all over the diamond. He appeared at five different positions for the Curve and the Indians and looks to continue that into Triple-A. Each level of the Minor Leagues has had an adjustment period for Owen, and 2020 might just be his year to break out at the Triple-A level.
Owen played his collegiate baseball at Indiana State and once again had to go through an adjustment period. During his freshman season, he hit just .214 in 12 games played as he served as a bench player for the Sycamores. Once he started earning more playing time, his average benefitted as he went from a low 200s hitter to a .344 average during his sophomore season. He also started to show promise in the power department as 13 of his 33 hits went for extra bases. The more he played the better he got and by his senior season he was hitting .350 with six home runs and 47 RBI. He was developing into a good hitter and caught the eye of the Pirates. He would be drafted in the 25th round of the 2016 draft and was sent to the Class-A Short Season West Virginis Black Bears.
In his first professional season with the Black Bears, Owen put up middle-of-the-road numbers hitting .257 with five home runs and 34 RBI. The Pirates knew Owen had some power in his game, but it was translating as extra-base power rather than over-the-wall power. He collected 17 extra-base hits that season, including 10 doubles in 52 games played. He picked up 14 multi-hit games that season, including a night where he went 4-5 with a double, a home run, and five RBI. Mixed in with that power was average speed as he was able to swipe four bases and was caught just one time.
Defensively, he was trying to find his place in the field as he appeared at four different positions on the field. Even though he was drafted as a third baseman, he actually saw the majority of his reps as a left fielder. He played 283.1 innings of work as a left fielder and committed just one error while picking up 58 outputs and one assist. His worst defensive performance that season came at his home position as he committed five errors in 46 innings at third base for a dismal .688 fielding percentage. He started all but two of the games that he appeared in the field and was proving his versatility being able to play both infield and outfield.
After getting his feet wet in professional baseball, Owen would jump to full-season baseball. He started 2017 with the West Virginia Power in Class Low-A baseball and looked to be on the same part as he was with the Black Bears. During his first month with the Power, he struggled hitting just .255 with one RBI in his first 47 at-bats. However, he would pick things up over the next two months of play and got his batting average up to .290 by the early part of July. However, just as he was starting to get hot, the injury bug hit him as he had to go to the seven-day disabled list.
After missing over a month of the season, Owen came back at the beginning of September and finished the year out strong getting a hit in each of his last three games of the season. He finished the year with a respectable .292 batting average and showed that power that he projected in college hitting 11 home runs. He moved back to his primary position at third base and with more playing time improved his defense greatly. His fielding percentage jumped to .931, almost 300 points higher than from the year before. He played in 688.2 innings at third base and committed just 16 errors all season while picking up 65 outputs and 151 assists.
With his progression through the Minor Leagues going smoothly, he moved to Advanced-A Bradenton for the 2018 season and continued his progression at third base. His defense took a slight jump as he committed three fewer errors than the season before and raised his fielding percentage to .938. He also added another position to his arsenal as he appeared in three games at catcher for the Marauders. He made three starts behind the plate and was perfect not committing an error in 25 innings of work. He had now played five of the nine positions on the field in just his third year in professional baseball, and he was proving a capable fielder at all of them.
However, his batting average took a dip as he hit just .266 that season and had an on-base percentage of .317. His power numbers continued to rise and he hit 18 home runs and drove in 60 RBI making up for the drop in Batting Average. However, with more power comes more strikeouts and Owen's strikeout numbers rose to 114 in his 401 at-bats. He had his second straight season with 20+ doubles and was near the top of the leaderboard for the Marauders in 2018. While Owen was starting to thrive as a Minor League Third Baseman, so was Pirates #2 prospect Ke'Bryan Hayes. This would force Owen to find a new path to the Major Leagues and he would start his move around the diamond to secure an everyday starting spot.
He started last season with the Altoona Curve in Double-A and was the team's starting third baseman at the beginning of the year. He was able to bring his average and his power up as he hit .295 with 15 home runs and 44 RBI in 68 games played. He also started taking some reps over at first base adding a sixth position to his defensive arsenal. With the power starting to show through, Owen projects as more of a corner infield or outfield option and have been focusing on that over the last several seasons. Due to injury needs at the Triple-A level, Owen made the jump to Triple-A in June of last year and played all over the field for the Tribe.
He appeared in games at all corners of the field and saw great improvement in his defensive play. His lowest fielding percentage came at third base where he had a .970 fielding percentage. However, this is more than likely because he spent the most time there last season playing 544.1 innings at third base. He also saw time in left field, right field, and first base as he moved around the field as he was needed. However, the offensive side of his game never came through as he hit just .192 with four home runs and nine RBI over the final two and a half months of the season. Owen has gone through an adjustment period at every level of the Pirates minor league system, and hopefully, this is just another adjustment period and his numbers will get back to normal in 2020.
With the late start to the 2020 season due to the pandemic, it is looking more like Hayes will start the year with the Big League club. This will give Owen a chance to get some Triple-A experience at third base. I feel like more consistent playing time at one position is going to help Owen's stats more than bouncing around between several different positions. However, if he is going to make it to the Major Leagues with Pittsburgh, that versatility is going to be key and will help give him several different options to make the Big League club as a bench player where he can back-up at several different positions. He has shown the defensive ability to do it and, if his offense can follow, he is shaping up to be a solid Major League bench option.
It is still uncertain as to when the 2020 MLB season is set to begin, but we at Buccos Cove are determined to continue to bring you strong content. Until the 2020 season begins, we will continue looking at the players who make up the 2020 Pirates organization and how they will impact the organization this season.
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