TUCSON - Robby Hammock was told Tuesday he will make the opening day roster in a meeting with manager Bob Melvin.

Hammock has been the de facto reserve catcher since Miguel Montero’s finger injury forced him into rehab mode, but Hammock said his talk with Melvin alleviated some of his fears after a slow start at the plate this spring.

“It’s good to hear ‘we know you can hit. Just relax and do it,’ ” said Hammock, who is hitting .140 in 43 at-bats.

“I’ve been putting a little pressure on myself. There were a couple of things I tried to do early on” to change at the plate.

“I mainly lost that normal slot and I’ve been trying to find it. It’s been there at times. It’s just a matter of when it clicks.”

Hammock is likely to play once a week in the regular season, Melvin said, to give starter Chris Snyder a day off.

Montero has taken batting practice the last two days, although he has not been scheduled into a game yet.

Montero will remain in the extended spring training program when the D-Backs break camp for the Valley on Thursday and will open the season with Triple-A Tucson, which opens the season April 3 with an eight-game homestand.

He will likely need at least 30 at-bats, Melvin said, before the D-Backs could consider adding him to the roster.

WEBB’S SPRING OVER

The spring numbers were not great for Brandon Webb, who gave up a two-run home run to the Angels’ Casey Kotchman among 10 hits allowed in 4 1/3 innings of his final start Tuesday.

“I’m not really where I want to be,” said Webb, who gave up 34 hits in 18 innings but did not walk a batter while posting an 8.50 ERA. He threw 93 pitches Tuesday.

“Pitch count-wise, I think I’m good,” he said. “I’m not really locating the fastball well. I’m not really getting ahead like I want to.”

Webb has worked this spring on throwing a four-seam fastball inside to left-handed hitters in order to keep them from diving out over the plate to attack his sinking, two-seam fastball.

Kotchman, a lefty, hit a four-seamer “that I would have liked to have a little more in,” Webb said. “I think it was inner third. I’d like to get it in a little more.”

LUCKY NO. 13

Trot Nixon and Alex Romero remain the candidates for the 13th and final position-player roster spot available when Chad Tracy (knee) opens the season on the disabled list, and Nixon appears the favorite, based on the way Melvin likes to construct his bench.

“The perfect roster for me,” Melvin said, “is a mixture of youth and experience in the field and a little bit more experienced bench.

“First base has something to do with it. How many at-bats will he get? Who can handle fewer at-bats? Who is more of a pinch-hit personality? Sometimes that is harder for a younger guy.”

Nixon, 33, is hitting around .208 with one pinch-hit in four opportunities. Romero, 24, is hitting .333 and is hitless in his one pinch-hit at-bat. Nixon has played at first base; Romero has not played there.

SHORT HOPS

Randy Johnson will pitch in a minor league game against the Chicago White Sox at the Sox’s minor league facility today, with right-hander Hector Ambriz making the exhibition start for the D-Backs against Colorado at Hi Corbett Field. … Dustin Nippert shored up his hold on the final bullpen spot when he got his fastball up to 96 mph in stranding the tying runner on third base with no outs after giving up a run in Monday’s 6-5 victory over San Francisco. “We saw his velocity go up. There was a little angst in him,” Melvin said. Nippert and Brandon Medders are competing for the 12th spot on the pitching staff, although both could make it if Johnson opens on the disabled list, as seems probable. Yusmeiro Petit and Juan Gutierrez also are being considered. … At 10-17-1, the D-Backs will have only the second losing spring training record in their 10 years. They were 15-17 in 2004.