The Arizona Diamondbacks did not place high expectations on their young starting pitcher Patrick Corbin when he earned the fifth spot in the rotation this spring.

Though, the way that Corbin has performed in the first month of the 2013 MLB season, he would have shattered any expectations that they would have had for him anyway. Corbin had an opportunity on Sunday against the Colorado Rockies to put Arizona in first place in their division with a strong pitching performance.

Corbin has been one of the main reasons why Arizona is off to a strong start this season, and has been the best pitcher on the staff. The success for him has come from a simple formula, which is to take an aggressive approach against the opposition and throw strike one on a consistent basis.

This is very important because when you can get the first strike on an opposing hitter, the starting pitcher has a variety of options of how he wants to attack the hitter. Another aspect of throwing strike one is that it puts the opposing hitter on the defense and forces him to take a different approach at the plate.

Corbin used his fastball to get strike one against the Rockies hitters, and then he used his breaking pitches to put the hitters away.

The biggest key to his success this season is the improvement he has made with his slider, which was not effective last season, and he also had a problem locating the pitch. He gained confidence in the spring to throw the slider, though, and has carried that confidence into this season.

Corbin delivered another stellar pitching performance, and will be important for the Diamondbacks’ continued success this season.

Chris is the Diamondbacks writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow and interact with him on Twitter. Like Chris on Facebook. Add him to your network on Google