PHOENIX -- Outfielder Carlos Quentin is just days away from appearing in some Minor League games, which would be his biggest step toward returning to the lineup.

Quentin was diagnosed with a partial tear of his left (non-throwing) labrum during Spring Training and began the year on the disabled list. He has progressed from hitting off a tee to taking soft toss, to live hitting and finally to hitting on the field during regular batting practice.

Quentin is scheduled to take batting practice on Tuesday before heading down to extended Spring Training in Tucson on Wednesday to take some swings in a camp game. He'll get Thursday off and then the team will reevaluate where things stand.

"Hopefully at the end of the homestand, maybe, we get him into some more games maybe [in] Tucson," manager Bob Melvin said.

The team's medical staff has worked with Quentin on strengthening the muscles around the labrum (in shoulder area), and they think that will help him avoid having to have surgery.

"It's looking pretty good for me getting some [Minor League] at-bats this week," Quentin said. "It feels good. It feels better than even before the injury because I had felt a little in there before."

On track: Randy Johnson (back) is scheduled to start for Triple-A Tucson on Friday. The Big Unit started for Class A Visalia on Sunday and allowed two runs on four hits over six innings. He threw a total of 73 strikes.

"He'll probably step it up the next time as far as velocity goes," Melvin said. "But [they're] real encouraged by how things went. Got the pitch count up to where we were comfortable with, and it's onto the next level, which is Triple-A."

That would put Johnson on track to start for the D-backs either April 18 or 19 and given the way Edgar Gonzalez and Micah Owings have thrown in the fourth and fifth spots in the rotation, it means the club will have difficult decision in terms of how to make room for him.

"With Micah doing what he's doing and Edgar turning the corner with what he's doing at the Major League level, we really like our rotation. So we'll take it a game at a time," Melvin said. "They each have a couple of more starts potentially before Randy comes back, and we'll make the tough decision when we have to. I'd rather be making tough decisions like that than looking for guys to give us innings."

Word to the wise: Melvin may have been sending a reminder to his young players on Monday when he talked about the D-backs needing to take advantage of their energy and enthusiasm to their advantage.

"The day after we lost the [second] game [in Colorado], we didn't play very well the next day, which was a little concerning to me," Melvin said. "And then we came out in Washington and started playing a lot better again. Sometimes, as a veteran club, you wear down a little bit. You're not running balls out as hard and so forth. You've always played a certain way. Where these guys better be enthusiastic about being at the big-league level and run balls out and take the extra base and do all the things we impressed upon them all Spring Training."

Staying warm: The D-backs were thrilled to be back in warmer weather after they experienced frigid temperatures during a four-game sweep of the Nationals in Washington.

"I've got to give these guys credit," Melvin said. "They went out there and played hard out there every day through the conditions. We hit every day except for the day game, and the other team didn't hit as much. We were out there hitting on the field, and I think we showed some mental intensity by being able to get through it and winning games on top of it."

Up next: The D-backs take on the Reds in the second game of their three-game series at 9:40 MST on Tuesday night at Chase Field.

Gonzalez will get the start for Arizona against the Reds' Kyle Lohse. Gonzalez picked up the win last Thursday against the Nationals. The right-hander allowed two runs on seven hits with a career-high seven strikeouts in five innings.