For days the Diamondbacks had remained non-committal as to who would start Saturday's game against the Colorado Rockies, but when they abruptly changed course and kept Patrick Corbin in Phoenix instead of flying him out to Triple-A Reno for one last minor-league tune-up Thursday, it wasn't difficult to connect the dots.
Now that it's official, and Corbin will return from Tommy John surgery to make his first major-league start since September 2013, the left-hander knows he is nearing the end of a long and unimaginably grueling process.
"I'm really excited about this day," Corbin said.