since honestly, I don’t know much about his stuff. However, a quick perusal of his numbers makes me suspect the Reds will protect him because I believe he could pitch in the big leagues next season. His K-rate is pretty good (20.3% last year), especially compared to his 7.6% walk rate. He doesn’t give up many home runs and, maybe most importantly for the Reds, he’s left-handed.

He’s not the kind of player that you protect because he’s the future of the franchise. He’s more like the kind of guy you protect because he could end up being a decent trading piece as part of a package and it doesn’t make sense to lose him for nothing. I have a feeling that he would be drafted if unprotected and it wouldn’t surprise me if he stuck for a whole season in the big leagues, but again, I don’t know much about his stuff.

FWIW, he’s probably last on the list of players that should be protected, and I’d say he’s worth keeping more than Laynce Nix or Willy Taveras.

but I’d like to see Maloney given the same chance that Micah has had. My guess is that Matt’s results would be better than Micah’s.

His bb/9 was 4.8 and his K/9 was 5.1, creating a K/BB of 1.06. OUCH!!!

His fastball has been losing velocity, in 2007 it averaged to be 90, 2008-88.9 and 2009 88.2.

Honestly I think he has some ongoing shoulder issues that is sapping him of his velocity.

You accuse Maloney of having no plus pitches, Owings truely does not have process an above average pitch. The only thing Owings can do that Maloney can’t do is hit. According to two articles at fangraphs, here and here, Maloney has an above average change up, which he sets up with his below average fastball.

Honestly I don’t understand the love for Owings, he was pretty brutal last year, and when you look at his peripherals he could have had an ERA much worse than 5.34.

I wouldn’t mind giving Owings a shot in the ’pen. His stuff might be more effective for one inning or so. He really struggled his second time through the line up. Last year in his first time through the lineup opposing hitters had a .660 OPS, the second time around it sky rocked up to .986, or an OPS+ of 115 OUCH!!!

What I can’t explain is the third time through the lineup (125 batters three times last year), the opposing OPS dropped to .710.

Plain and simple Owings has no real upside in the rotation, he is no more than a 5 five starter. Perhaps given his abilities his first time throw the line up, and his injury history (which I think we should consider a concern since he had missed time in the previous two seasons with shoulder issues) the bullpen is the place for him. He won’t have to face hitters more than once with his limited stuff, and his fastball might jump back up to around 90 MPH.

Maloney might not be more than a 5th starter, but at the big league level he is an unknown. Based on his minor league numbers, which are better than Owings minor league numbers, it isn’t an unfair to claim that Maloney at this point may have more upside than Owings.

And if nothing else Maloney and I share a birthday, his just happens to be three years earlier than mine, so yeah.