Pittsburgh Pirates: Hunter Owen Joins Non-Roster Invitees

The Pittsburgh Pirates have added right-handed hitting utility man Hunter Owen to their list of non-roster invitees to MLB camp this spring

Spring Training games start in just over a week and the Pittsburgh Pirates made a move to bolster their spring squad. This move was to add Hunter Owen to their Spring squad as a non-roster invitee.

Owen was a 25th round pick by the Pittsburgh Pirates back in the 2016 draft. He was drafted out of Indiana State University. Owen is a 5’11”, 197 pound righty who can play a plethora of different positions.

During his four years in the minor leagues, Owen has playing time at catcher, first base, second base, third base, left field and right field. He has most of his experience at third base, but has been playing in the outfield more recently.

During those four years, Owen has proven that he can be a decent power hitter. On average Owen hits right around the Mendoza Line, and has had double digit homerun totals over the last couple of seasons.

One major flaw in his hitting ability though, is his strikeout percentage. He strikes out in about three out of every ten of his at bats. Even though this is not a great sign, his wRC+ is still great, which shows that he can be a good player.

Owen has only ever had a sub-100 WRC+ twice in parts of his playing career. This happened in Low-A in 2017 (69) and his short stint in Triple-A in 2019 (63). His two best seasons were in 2017 at rookie-ball (213) and in 2019 Double-A (172).

When all of Owen’s attributes are taken into consideration, he is definitely a player that fans should keep their eyes on this year during Spring Training. If he manages to have a good Spring Training, along with his versatility, there is a chance that he could sneak into the Major League roster.