PHOENIX -- Almost as soon as Lance Lynn's pitch hit him on the middle finger of his right hand on July 30, D-backs shortstop Chris Owings knew he was in trouble.
"You know when something is going on with your body," Owings said. "I was kind of messing with it after it happened and I could feel something wiggling in there."
The official diagnosis after X-rays revealed a fracture of the finger. Owings had surgery the next day and was placed on the 60-day disabled list, meaning he is not eligible to return until near the end of September.
A couple of plates and screws were inserted into his finger, but it could have been worse had Owings not gotten his hand off the bat just before impact.
Rather than hit the finger while it was still on the bat, Owings finger was slightly off the bat so the ball hit it first and sandwiched it back into the bat.
"Just looking at it right now, everyone has been impressed with how the rehab is going and how the range of motion is going," Owings said of his mindset. "It's going to be for the first four weeks just kind of taking it slow and doing some range of motion."
Ketel Marte has taken over most of the playing time at shortstop in Owings' absence. The team acquired Adam Rosales prior to the non-waiver Trade Deadline to give them some added coverage there, but Rosales and Daniel Descalso have been splitting time at second while Brandon Drury works through some mechanical changes at the plate.
Ray getting closer
D-backs left-hander Robbie Ray, who has been on the DL since being struck on the head by a line drive on July 28, is expected to face hitters for the first time since the incident Saturday when he throws a simulated game.
D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said it had not yet been decided how many outings Ray would need before being activated.
Ray suffered a concussion and had staples put in his head to close the gash left by the 108-mph line drive.
Lining them up
Lovullo said Taijuan Walker, Patrick Corbin and Zack Godley would start for the D-backs in the weekend series with the Cubs.