Spring Battles – Shortstop: Didi Gregorius vs. Chris Owings

by Nick Opich

2/14/2014

“Says he can’t decide /

I shake my head to say, everything’s just great”

As a fan, there is a fair amount of cynicism when it comes to discussing the Diamondbacks shortstop situation. After trading away franchise favorite Stephen Drew in 2012 and only a year after acquiring a young “franchise” shortstop, Arizona has reopened the discussion about who will be their shortstop of the future.

Coming into Spring Training, the Diamondbacks have announced that there will be an open competition between incumbent shortstop Didi Gregorius and top prospect Chris Owings.

So let’s take a look at the two guys who will be competing to be on the Diamondbacks Opening Day roster:

Didi Gregorius

The soon to be 24-year old defensively gifted shortstop was acquired in the 2012-13 offseason in a three team, nine player trade that saw the D-Backs send top prospect Trevor Bauer to the Indians. He was quickly dubbed by GM Kevin Towers to be a “young Derek Jeter” and was perceived as the new anchor of the infield. Oh, how swiftly things change.

Known for his defensive prowess, the comparison to Jeter tilted a lot of confused heads in Arizona. Between Double-A and Triple-A, Gregorius had only posted a .265/.324/.393 slash, that doesn’t seem very Jeter-like? It seemed that Towers may have given his new acquisition too much credit but alas, the words had already tumbled out of his mouth and it would be on Gregorius to live up to the hype.

After suffering an elbow injury in early February and missing the beginning of the season, Gregorius started off with a bang when he went 2-5 with a home run in his D-Backs debut against the Yankees in mid-April. The young shortstop stayed hot through May hitting .293/.353/.446 while showing some significant power. His defense was as good as advertised and he regularly wowed fans with his ability to make tough outs. Fans were excited, the D-Backs were leading the division, and Didi was the talk of the town.

Unfortunately, like the D-Backs season, Gregorius' bat fell apart in the second half of the year. After May, he never hit above .241 the rest of the season and ended the season hitting .207/.314/.314 in the second half. Despite his hot start at the plate, it was painfully clear to all that watched that Gregorius’ struggles against big league pitching were not going away.

To make matters worse for Gregorius, Arizona called up another young shortstop in September who was tearing it up in Triple-A.

Chris Owings

Chris Owings was selected with 41^st overall pick in 2009 out of high school in South Carolina. Owings moved quickly through the minors, debuting in Double-A Mobile at age 20. Entering the 2013 season he was considered a top 10 prospect in the Dbacks organization but with the acquisition of Gregorius and Aaron Hill’s 3-year contract extension, Owings’ future seemed elsewhere.

Owings was anything but complacent and spent the 2013 season on a mission to prove he belonged in the majors. At 21 years of age, Owings absolutely raked in Triple-A Reno. He posted a .330/.359/.482 slash line with 12 home runs, 31 doubles and 20 stolen bases and was named the Pacific Coast League MVP.

The only questions surrounding Owings is his ability to defend. He committed 28 errors as a shortstop in Triple-A and while equipped with an above average arm, he has struggled to play consistent and solid defense. Scouts don’t see that as a major issue for Owings and as MLB.com’s Bernie Pleskoff stated, “he’s capable of being a solid, though unspectacular shortstop defensively.”

The big league club took notice of Owings and called up the Charleston native in early September to get a look at what kind of player they had. The kid did not disappoint and in 20 games hit .291/.261/.382 along with five doubles and a couple stolen bases. He only committed one error in 50 chances. That may be a small sample but it was a good showing from the 21-year-old.

What Next?

This offseason, the D-Backs organization has repeatedly stated that they are committed to letting Owings compete against Gregorius for the starting spot in Spring Training.      

Trying to find the differences between the two players is fairly easy. The two players are only a year and a few months apart in age, one is defensive minded, and the other is offensive. Gregorius has more big league experience but that should only play a small role in the battle for the starting position.  

The most significant difference is that Gregorius was acquired by the D-Backs for their top prospect. When Towers traded for the shortstop last offseason, he was criticized for not receiving enough value for Bauer, who, in 2012, was rated the 5^th best prospect in the game. If after one season, Gregorius is sent back to Triple-A in favor of another prospect, it shows the trade was a failure for the Diamondbacks and another questionable transaction on the resume of Kevin Towers - even if Bauer never pans out for the Indians.

Given this factor, it would seem that Gregorius has a leg up in this competition. Owings will have the opportunity to unseat him this spring but unless he hits over .400 with huge power numbers it seems doubtful that he opens the season in Phoenix.

Expect Gregorius to begin the season with the big club but be on a very short leash. He’ll be expected to start the season hot and at the very least put up league average offensive numbers. If he fails to improve upon his .628 second half OPS then don’t be surprised if Owings is flying down from Reno some time around mid-May.