Barden has new child, new life in the bigs

"I've always been, I don't want to say the underdog, but I've always had to work that much harder to get what I've wanted," said the 25-year-old infielder. "I've always had people tell me, 'You're not going to be able to hit college pitching. You're not going to make it in pro ball.' Stuff like that. It pushes me to work harder."

He won the third baseman job as a freshman at Oregon State. He earned a scholarship. He played five seasons in the minors.

Now, he is a major-leaguer.

Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin announced Saturday before the team's final spring game, a 12-8 win over the San Diego Padres at Chase Field, that Barden, catcher Robby Hammock and relievers Dustin Nippert and J.D. Durbin had made the 25-man roster. Barden, Hammock and Nippert are former Tucson Sidewinders.

"It's some weird feeling, joy and excitement, a lot of things put into one," Barden said. "I don't know how to explain it."

Barden has yet to play in the majors. He spent parts of the last three seasons with the Sidewinders. He and his wife Ashley live in Tucson.

"Now we have to look for somewhere else to live," he said.

The news brought a climax to a hectic six weeks for Barden. While trying to impress the D-backs, he also dealt with the responsibilities of being a new father. His wife gave birth to their daughter, Averie, on Feb. 12, 10 days before the first official spring workout. A bag of diapers rested by his locker Saturday.

"A lot of things going on at once, but now I'm here and it's all good," Barden said.

Melvin actually told Barden the news after Friday's game in Surprise. Melvin approached Barden as he was signing autographs near the D-backs locker room. He told Barden he needed to see him in his office.

Barden then waited a couple of minutes to sign a few more autographs. That prompted Melvin to approach him again.

"He said, 'Are you going to make me wait?' " Barden recalled.

So Barden was big-leaguing his manager before he was even a big-leaguer?

"I know. That's not the best thing to do, you know?" Barden said with a laugh. "But yeah, it's a big moment in my life."

But Barden said he had a feeling it would be good news.

"I went in there pretty confident," said Barden, who hit .397 this spring and played in the infield and outfield.

After thriving during the first four weeks of camp, Barden said he began to press during the final stretch.

"The last week has been hell," he said. "I don't want to say hell, but it was getting kind of stressful."

Barden said he and Hammock began asking each other if they had heard any news. Barden said he then decided to focus on having fun and went 3 for 3 with three RBIs on Friday.

"(He) made significant strides last year and always has been an organization guy," Melvin said. "He might have had as good a spring as anybody we had here."

Melvin said he was excited to deliver the news to Barden and the others, but particularly Hammock, who has battled shoulder and knee injuries, and was released by the D-backs in 2005. Hammock can also play various infield and outfield positions.

"To come as far as he did can be more difficult the second time around, especially with injuries and being taken off the roster, and the psychological part of trying to play your way back to a big-league roster," Melvin said. "That (news) was particularly gratifying for me."

Hammock said it was similar to the day after his shoulder surgery, when he was unable to move his arm.

"It was really emotional," he said of making the team.