DENVER -- Maybe having been so low that you don’t know if a team is going to want you is a valuable, if immeasurable, trait. At least it is as long as you come out on the other side producing like Rockies utility man Chris Owings is in the early days of 2020.

In 2018 and ’19, Owings played in 172 games for three teams, batting .180 and posting a .523 OPS in 505 plate appearances. He says his swing was a mess, and his approach to fixing it was to do one thing, then another, then something else.

But Owings -- who turns 29 on Aug. 12 -- found a Minor League deal with the Rockies last offseason, and made the team because he rediscovered his swing and discovered proper methods for maintaining it. Tuesday night’s start at second base against the Giants was his fifth time in the starting lineup through 10 games.

“It wasn’t easy, that’s for sure,” said Owings, who started in left field Monday and had two hits, including a homer in the eighth inning in the 7-6 victory over the Giants. “I had a lot of tough nights driving home, questioning whether you’re going to be playing for much longer. But my work ethic has been there. It’s not like I just showed up at the field and said I was OK with the last two years.

“It’s been a lot of hard work, but I’m working on the right things now and drastically changed the way I go about my business.”

Owings noted that when he was breaking in with the D-backs in 2013-14, former infielder Aaron Hill was his example and his sounding board on how to help teammates -- even when competing with them for playing time.

“Guys come over and ask questions -- talking hitting, baserunning or stealing, picking up stuff from the pitchers,” said Owings, who added that coronavirus prevention protocols reduce the opportunities to spend time together. “I’ve been making myself available. It’s just good to communicate. Aaron Hill definitely took me under his wing. When I came up with the Diamondbacks, he was definitely a big part of teaching me how to be a big leaguer.”

Anyone can learn from Owings’ toughest days, like when he sustained a fractured middle finger in 2017 and needed two surgeries to fix it. But he was unable to fix the swing with the D-backs in ’18 and with the Red Sox and Royals last season.

After being released by Kansas City, Owings drove to Arizona to meet with Lorenzo Garmendia, a hitting and performance coach who gave Owings a target by using technology to provide visuals and metrics that could identify what was needed. It was rooted in hitting basics.

“We taught him that the barrel needs to go back-to-front, not sideways, and also how to incorporate his legs better into the swing,” said Garmendia, who has seen strong results with one of Owings’ former teammates, Red Sox catcher Christian Vázquez. “Every player reached a point where they know that they need to make a change to be successful. He was extremely open-minded and bought into the process 100 percent.”

Now, Owings says, he has a more directed plan.

“I just feel the work I put in this offseason, during Spring Training, during quarantine … I’m working on the right stuff now,” said Owings, who entered Tuesday with a .386 batting average and 1.019 OPS in 42 games at Coors Field. “Whether it’s saying positive or working on the right stuff in the cage and in batting practice and taking it on the field.”

Which leads us to ...
Tuesday marked the first game second baseman-first baseman Ryan McMahon hadn’t started. McMahon struck out 16 times in 33 at-bats through nine games. The last two games were strange -- four strikeouts in eight at-bats, but three hits including a home run and a triple.

“For me a little bit of the pitch selection has been not Mac-like,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “He’s expanding the zone a little bit, which is uncharacteristic. Once he zeros in on swinging at strikes, taking balls -- especially pitches below the strike zone -- you’ll see the results.”

Hoffman could see 'more critical roles'
Black chose Chi Chi González to start on Monday, but Jeff Hoffman, the other option, ended up with a key sixth inning to hold the deficit at three runs. The Rockies flipped the game in the bottom of the sixth to give Hoffman the win.

Hoffman, who uses a high spin-rate fastball and curve, is developing a changeup. He still could get starts, but he has spent time learning from starters-turned-relievers.

“I’m speaking to guys like Wade Davis and Daniel Bard, guys that have started in the past and made that transition,” Hoffman said. “That was important to me, picking their brains and seeing anything that they can give me from their experience. What was told to me was it’s more of an aggression role.”

Black liked it.

“If he has more outings like the one last night, you could see him in more critical roles,” Black said.