John

Patterson

“I’m not going to make a decision on pitching [him] too quickly,” manager Frank Robinson said.

Andrew Good, scheduled to start Monday, may have to be sent down to make room for Patterson on the roster. Arizona is the only team in the majors to have used five rookie starting pitchers this season: Good, Patterson, Brandon Webb, Chris Capuano and Oscar Villarreal.

A very encouraging performance for Patterson, who had been struggling. Another outing or two like this, and he’ll be back with the Diamondbacks very soon.

Because of the blister, it appears that it’s going to be at least a couple of weeks before Patterson returns to the majors.

Patterson’s changeup is receiving most of the credit for his excellent May. He has pitched well enough to earn his way back to the majors.

It doesn’t appear that Patterson was able to make up any ground during the session. “He still needs to work on that offspeed pitch, whether it be the changeup or the splitter,” Brenly said. “I know he’s throwing that cutter a lot more this spring, but he needs to find a third pitch he’s comfortable and confident with.” Sparks is the favorite to open the season as Arizona’s fifth starter.

He’ll follow Livan Hernandez, Tomo Ohka, Zach Day, and Claudio Vargas, and is worth a flyer in deep NL-only leagues.

Andrew Good will remain in the rotation.

The Diamondbacks still haven’t announced that Patterson will be in the team’s rotation, but it’s expected that he will be. Sending Patterson to the minors would allow the Diamondbacks to carry an extra reliever for their series in Coors Field.

He faced a pretty horrendous lineup, but Patterson would have beaten just about anyone tonight -- or at least pitched well enough to win. It was just Patterson’s fifth victory. He has a 0.48 ERA in those games. Nine times he’s had quality starts and not won.