Why Owings isn't hitting higher in the lineup

Interesting story today on UmpBump.com, that asked the question: "Why the heck is Micah Owings still batting 9th". Here is basically how UmpBump summarized their view on Owings:

The point is that the Diamondbacks have a rare two-way player on their hands, and if they are smart the should do everything in their power to get him as many at-bats as they can. One way to do that is to put him higher in the lineup, which is so obviously a smart move that it is baffling they haven’t done it already. In addition, they should also probably be pinch hitting him just about every game, and should maybe even consider sneaking him in at first base from time to time. And he should almost certainly be their DH in interleague games.

Obviously they don’t want to risk injury to him by making him play a demanding position in the field, because oh yeah he is also a pretty good pitcher, off to a 4-0 start this year with a 2.42 ERA.

But batting him 9th just because that is where all other pitchers bat is just stupid.

I think there has been much consideration by Bob Melvin as to where exactly Owings should be hitting in this lineup. He is obviously an enormously talented "hitting" pitcher. Melvin did experiment with hitting him seventh and eighth during Spring Training and did have some success there.

As for him making any appearances at first base this year, Melvin squashed that speculation early in the spring. He wanted Owings to concentrate strictly on pitching this year, and not make hitting be as much of a focus for him. He obviously has had a tremendous start out of the gate this year at 4-0, and much of it appears to be due to his drastically improved changeup that has been getting hitters off balance.

On the surface it would appear obvious to move Owings higher up in the order on the days he pitches. But, I think it might be a bit more delicate than it seems. I think that egos actually come into play here, and maybe some position players may not necessarily react positively to such a move. I know they're all professionals and want to do what's best for the team, but they also have a heckuva lot of pride too, and that might be part of the reasoning behind leaving him in the ninth hole.

Owings has made his share of pinch hit appearances thus far, and I expect Melvin to use him whenever necessary. It's a nice luxury to have as a manager, knowing that you have that one extra bat on the bench in the late innings.

As good as Owings has been at the plate, the Diamondbacks wouldn't mind if he hit .150 as long as he keeps putting up the numbers from the bump that he has to this point.