Johnson serving as patriarch for young Arizona

Diamondbacks: Five Things

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- It wasn't much. Randy Johnson weaved his way through the mid-morning raindrops Thursday and, as they say, got his work in. Twenty-eight, 29 pitches, that's all. Then he returned from the bullpen and dried off.

Randy Johnson has yet to pitch in a Cactus League game. (Getty Images)

The Scottsdale Stadium gates were still locked. The concessionaires were preparing their stands. And the rain, the first here since spring training started, was perfect.

This is as low key as it has been for the Big Unit in a long time. At 43 and returning from his second back surgery -- he has also had four knee operations -- expectations are on hold. The homecoming trumpets are on mute.

Yes, Johnson is returning to the site of some of his greatest triumphs -- the 2001 World Series title, four Cy Youngs (he has won five total), the 24 wins and 334 strikeouts in 2002.

But this is a new generation of Diamondbacks, and an older Johnson.

"I'm probably a month ahead of schedule," Johnson said after unstrapping the monstrous ice bags from his shoulder and back. "I've worked extremely hard to get to where I'm at.

"That doesn't mean I couldn't have a setback. But a lot of players at this point in the spring are having spasms and muscle pulls. You don't know about things until you do them. But I've been rehabbing, and I'm getting stronger."

He has yet to pitch in a Cactus League game. Thursday's side session was another step forward, though. Assuming no setbacks Friday -- no reason to suspect there will be -- Johnson next will pitch in a game Saturday. It will be his first game action of the spring.

"I don't know if it will be a 'B' game," Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin says. "We're still setting that up. It won't be an 'A' game."

Considering his present pace, the Big Unit will not be ready for Arizona's opening day rotation, but he won't be far off. The Diamondbacks open with seven road games -- three in Colorado, four in Washington -- and the hope is that Johnson will be ready in mid-to-late April, maybe in time for their first homestand, likely by their second.

"Where we are in his program, now it will be easier to forecast with him on a five-day schedule," Melvin says.

It would be a misnomer ever to call Johnson "relaxed," but he again has room to breathe. Were he still in the Bronx, his few-minutes bullpen session Thursday would have resulted in breathless news updates, television footage and a large media contingent.

In Arizona, there was nobody near the pen to watch, and there were only three or four reporters even in the clubhouse when he emerged from the trainer's room.