6. Chris Owings
2016: 83 PA, .263/.317/.355, 72 wRC+, 0.1 fWAR
A baseball manager’s job is to put his players in a situation that they will find the most success. Unfortunately, sometimes these managers make mistakes by overrating their player’s ability or getting caught up in a small sample of success. It’s why many of these players are on this list, and to include Chris Owings is probably a little unfair.
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After the devastating injury to A.J. Pollock right before the start of the season, Arizona manager Chip Hale decided to move Owings, a middle infielder, out into center field. Owings already struggled last season, putting up some poor defensive numbers at second and short, and losing his ability to hit at this level. Sending him out to start at a position he had never played in the big leagues didn’t put him in a position to succeed, quite the opposite. Owings has performed to mixed results defensively, and again has shown he isn’t a good option at the plate.
His 2015 season was better than only Sandoval at -1.4 WAR, and he’s not much better this year. That his whole career equals less than one win, makes him almost the definition of replacement level. Starting in CF for a club trying to make the playoffs isn’t a good spot for a replacement player, and makes him one of the worst players in the major leagues.
Next: Number 5