BRADENTON, Fla. – About a year ago at this time, Hunter Owen started emerging as a potentially legit prospect.
The Pirates drafted him in the 25th round of the 2016 draft as a senior out of college. That’s not a combination that usually leads to a player being a prospect. But Owen started showing some real power, leading to the Pirates giving him a push last year as a starting third baseman in West Virginia.
He responded well, hitting for a .292/.388/.505 line in 291 at-bats, while having that power on display with a .213 ISO. But Owen missed half the year with a hamstring injury, which prevented him from being able to move up, and allowed other options to step up ahead of him. He’s projected to go to Bradenton this year, where he will have to complete with Michael Busby for playing time at third base.
The Pirates are already prepared for this, and have moved Owen behind the plate in order to get him additional playing time. Moving a guy from the corner outfield to third base, and then to catcher is about as unusual as a 25th round college senior being seen as a prospect. But this move isn’t totally out of left field. (A-thank you)
Owen has caught before during his college career. He never caught in games, but spent time behind the plate in practices. Brian Esposito, who is the Indianapolis Indians manager, and who does a lot of work with the minor league catchers, approached Owen during instructs and asked if he’d be willing to make the move. Owen was definitely willing.
“I told him whatever would get me into the lineup is what I’m willing to do,” Owen said. “It’s something that I’ve done every fall in college. It’s not really uncharted territory, but as far as my game play goes, I haven’t been behind the dish for a game yet. I feel like it’s going to be a somewhat easier transition than if I was going in cold turkey.”
Owen has been working behind the plate so far in minor league Spring Training while the pitchers have been throwing bullpens. Pirates’ farm director Larry Broadway said that he’s not going to be fully converted to catching, but compared his usage to Kevin Krause from last year, who made 12 starts behind the plate.
“It’s not a full-scale conversion,” Broadway said. “It’s ‘Let’s put this in your toolbelt.’ Every MLB manager likes to have an emergency catcher, so this is an opportunity for him to get some versatility there.”
The Pirates want to be careful with the switch that they don’t have Owen’s bat taking a step back. The catching position can be grueling, both physically and mentally in terms of how much work is involved. Going full-scale with catching leaves very little time to work on hitting, and that’s the driving factor for Owen.
“The bat has been his carrying tool and he knows that,” Broadway said. “So we want to keep him progressing with that, and supplement this. At some point if it takes off more, great. If it doesn’t, that’s great also.”
The important thing here is that Owen wants to catch, and because of his previous experience, he’s not an extreme project. That said, he’s not a guy you can look at as a future MLB catcher. Broadway mentioned him as more of a guy that could give you a third option, while playing other spots on the field.
“He’s shown some skills to be able to do it,” Broadway said. “He doesn’t look like a guy we’re just trying to convert back there, where the hands are rough. He can stick pitches, and he’s got the feel to move his body around.”
Owen’s chances of being a legit prospect are going to largely rely on his bat. If he repeats his performance from last year, and stays healthy, he could move from Bradenton to Altoona by mid-season. Getting constant playing time will help that progress, and adding the catching position will allow for more playing time. Owen will really start to show whether he’s a prospect that can reach the majors with his offensive abilities in Double-A. Until then, anything that keeps him in the lineup and gets him a chance to move up is a good thing.
