Randy Johnson Set to Start for the Arizona Diamondbacks

Randy Johnson should be a good strikeout option for Fantasy Baseball players. (AP Images)

After the second back surgery of his career, 44-year-old Randy Johnson is set for his 2008 debut with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Big Unit and the D-Backs face Jonathan Sanchez and the 5-8 San Francisco Giants tonight in the bay city. Johnson was able to reach his expected pitch count of 85 in his second outing in triple-A Tucson, hitting 92 mph on his fastball and allowing just three hits in six innings of work.

"It will be exciting to see Randy out there," said Diamondbacks outfielder Eric Byrnes. "If we could get 20-plus starts out of him, that would be huge."

The start will be the first for Johnson since June 28, 2007. He has a 3.22 career ERA and last year while healthy his strikeouts per nine innings total was over 11. Johnson needs 16 wins to reach 300 for his career.

Arizona is currently -135 on the moneyline and the run total sits at 7.5.