Owings gets rave reviews from teammates

PHOENIX -- Chris Owings tends to fly under the radar when people talk about the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Paul Goldschmidt and A.J. Pollock get the bulk of the attention, and over the past season there's been a lot of talk about Jake Lamb.
Inside the D-backs' clubhouse, though, no one overlooks Owings, who one night after hitting his first career grand slam, came though once again with three RBIs to help the D-backs beat the Padres, 9-3, at Chase Field on Tuesday.
"He can do it all," Goldschmidt said of Owings. "It's fun to watch. I've gotten to play with him since rookie ball, we were drafted the same year, and it's what we've seen since the day we drafted him and what they imagined when they drafted him. Great baserunner, too. So he puts pressure on the pitchers when he gets on base which can help the hitters."
Owings' two-out, two-run triple in the second helped get the D-backs offense started and he was in the middle of things again with an RBI single two innings later.

"I've said it before, just trying to fit in the lineup. Just having good at-bats," Owings said. "It's fun when everyone is going up there and having good approaches and throwing together continuous ABs, just linked at-bats for the whole team. You kind of get that contagious feeling of having good at-bats."
Owings may downplay his accomplishments, but his teammates make sure that he is recognized.
Last year he was named the recipient of the Luis Gonzalez Award, given to the D-backs player who best exemplifies the talents, spirit and heart of the D-backs legend both on and off the field, as voted by his teammates, coaches and staff members.
Owings suffered a left shoulder injury in 2014 that hampered him into 2015 as he tried to alter the follow through of his swing to put less stress on the shoulder. It took a while for him to feel 100 percent physically and even more time to then get comfortable with his new swing.
"I've watched him in the Minor Leagues, I came up with him in the system and he's such a good player," Pollock said. "He can do so many things. He can hit for power, he can hit for average, he can run, play defense. It's been fun to watch. That's the CO I know. I know he's kind of battled with some stuff throughout his career, the injury, but it's awesome to watch him play and it's fun to play with him. Great teammate."