MIAMI -- Bryan Shaw had just arrived in Colorado Springs and was sitting in a hotel lobby. His Triple-A Reno teammates were with him when he got the news that he had been waiting for since turning pro in 2008.

He was headed to the big leagues.

Shaw was added to the 40-man roster and called up on Friday as the D-backs optioned left-handed pitcher Zach Kroenke to Reno.

Shaw spent 15 games this year with Double-A Mobile before spending the last eight with Reno, going a combined 4-1 with 10 saves and a 2.37 ERA.

Over the past two seasons he has split time as a starter and reliever, but this year the organization decided to leave him in the bullpen, a place where the former college closer has always been more comfortable.

"My mindset is built more towards a reliever than a starter," he said.

Shaw throws a cut fastball, and his slider is probably his second-best pitch. He also throws a curve and while he technically does have a change, he said he's thrown it maybe once this year as reliever.

"I've basically played baseball my entire life, and one goal was to make it here," Shaw said. "And now that I have, the next goal is obviously to do everything I can to stay here and help the team win some championships.

Kroenke was 0-1 with a 9.00 ERA in four relief appearances this year. Unlike Shaw, Kroenke has always been more comfortable as a starter than a reliever.

"His secondary pitches are getting better, he's locating better and he's probably throwing the ball a little firmer than he did last year," D-backs manager Kirk Gibson said of Kroenke. "So we just thought we'd put him back down there and let him get his regular term and continue to develop and improve."

Bloomquist struggling to get his groove back

MIAMI -- Willie Bloomquist cringes at the thought of using his nearly month long stint on the disabled list as an excuse for his struggles at the plate.

A glance at the numbers, though, tells the story.

When he went on the disabled list on April 22, Bloomquist was off to a torrid start at the plate and was the darling of fantasy baseball players everywhere. Bloomquist was hitting .306 and had seven stolen bases, playing nearly every day at either shortstop or left field.

Bloomquist tried to play through the strained right hamstring because chances to play every day have been few and far between during his 10-year big league career.

"There is no good time for an injury," Bloomquist said. "But that particular time was really not good, just because I worked a lot of years trying to get to where I was early this year. It certainly doesn't mean I'm not going to get back there, but this came at a really bad time because I was feeling really good and everything was clicking and going right.

"It's been kind of a struggle getting back to where I was beforehand."

In 16 games -- eight starts -- since coming back, Bloomquist is hitting just .190 and is 0-for-2 in stolen base attempts.

"You miss a month and everyone else keeps going forward and you just kind of get stuck in a freezer for a while, but you have to jump right back in and get after it," Bloomquist said. "I'm just not going to use that as an excuse. I expect myself to jump right back and be right where I was when I left off."

Putz available despite tightness in back

MIAMI -- D-backs manager Kirk Gibson said that he expected closer J.J. Putz would be available on Friday night, one day after not being able to pitch due to tightness in his lower back.

"If he doesn't lock back up he will be available," Gibson said. "As far as I know he'll be OK."

Putz went through conditioning drills with the other relievers prior to batting practice. Putz is 17-for-19 in save situations this year.

Back problems sidelined Putz during Spring Training and nearly forced him to miss the beginning of the season, but the club does not seem to think it is that serious this time around.

"Just something to keep an eye on," Gibson said.