He could see even less playing time when Aaron Hill (hand) comes off the disabled list. Pennington is batting just .212 through 34 games and isn't exactly forcing his way into the lineup.

"When you get a chance to play you got to play," Pennington said, per The Arizona Republic. "I got off to a slow start and had a rough stretch for a few at-bats, but I’ve been swinging it good in May and I feel good, so I just got to keep that going."

Pennington has seen just 17 at-bats over seven appearances and five starts in May. He's gone 4 for 17 (.235) over that stretch with a homer and six RBI. Josh Wilson and Martin Prado are seeing most of the starts at second base over Pennington. 

"He's been outstanding," Diamondbacks bench coach Alan Trammell said, per MLB.com. "He's come over and done everything we were hoping for, we've been impressed. He's one of the reasons why we're at where we are. It's so far so good with him, he's brought what we needed and solidified the position."

Pennington, who has two errors through 12 games, ranks fourth among all qualifying shortstops in zone rating, which the percentage of balls fielded by a player in his typical defensive zone, as measured by STATS, Inc. He's also sixth in range factor, which is an advanced fielding percentage stat that takes into account the player's individual ability to get to each batted ball.

"He's able to do it all," Trammell said. "He often shows he has a real good God-given talent in certain plays, but that's a bonus for me. It's more about making the routine plays, and that's what I've seen out of him."