Owings will begin the year as the Diamondbacks' starting second baseman, Steve Gilbert of MLB.com reports. Owings was delayed at the start of spring training after undergoing shoulder surgery in the offseason, and he didn't fare all that well in his 13 Cactus League games (.622 OPS, 1:6 BB:K), but he was still better than Aaron Hill (.440 OPS). Hill will come off the bench, with Nick Ahmed starting at short. While Owings looked bad after returning in September, the shoulder issue had a lot to do with that. He posted a .277/.313/.458 batting line with six homers and seven steals in 238 first-half at-bats.