DENVER -- Bob Melvin posted his Opening Day lineup in the visitor's clubhouse at Coors Field on Sunday, and it included a bit of a curveball.

After saying throughout the spring that he didn't want to hit Chad Tracy in the cleanup spot, Melvin looked at the way Tracy matched up with Rockies Opening Day starter Aaron Cook and decided the No. 4 spot was, in fact, the best place for Tracy.

"I said I wasn't going to hit him fourth during Spring Training and I didn't," Melvin said with a smile. "No, seriously, we're going to run the best lineup out there that we feel we can on a particular day. He's had a lot of success against this club in this ballpark. He and [Orlando] Hudson have the best numbers off Cook and we're going to hit those guys three and four [Monday]."

Hudson spent much of the spring hitting second behind Stephen Drew, but Eric Byrnes will instead hit in the No. 2 slot.

"I want his energy at the top tomorrow," Melvin said Sunday while watching his club go through its final workout before Monday's opener.

Another surprise is that left fielder Scott Hairston will hit fifth.

"The way Scotty Hairston is swinging the bat, I wanted to put him in a more prominent position," Melvin said.

Conor Jackson will hit sixth, followed by Chris Young, Chris Snyder and Brandon Webb.

One of the reasons Melvin had been hesitant to put Tracy in the cleanup role is he wants Tracy to focus on using the whole field and not put pressure on himself to hit home runs. That, the club felt, led to Tracy's high strikeout total a year ago.

Tracy, though, said he's committed to his all-fields approach at the plate regardless of where he hits in the lineup.

"I'm going to hit my home runs," Tracy said. "I may not hit 30, but I'm going drive in my runs, I'm going to hit for a high average and I'm going to get on base. I'm in a lot better place doing that than I am trying to hit home runs."

Well deserved: Though Micah Owings beat him out for the No. 5 spot in the rotation, Dustin Nippert will be part of the Opening Day roster. Owings will not have his contract purchased until just before his Friday start against the Nationals, and in the meantime, Nippert will be in the bullpen.

One of the reasons to keep the extra reliever is that teams can burn through a pitching staff pretty quickly at Coors Field even though scoring was down here a year ago. The club might decide to purchase Owings' contract Thursday to, as Melvin said, let him sit on the bench and get acclimated before pitching the next day. Owings is currently with the team, but will not be able to sit on the bench during the series in Colorado.

When Owings is added, it's likely that Nippert would be sent to Triple-A Tucson or the club could decide to make a move with J.D. Durbin.

"It's nice to reward a guy that's had a tremendous spring and I think Dustin Nippert pitched well enough to be on this roster come Opening Day," Melvin said. "We'll see down the road here how it's going to play out, but he deserves to be here today."

Lyon time: At least at the beginning, Brandon Lyon will be the club's top setup man with Tony Pena being used in the seventh. Right-hander Brandon Medders and lefty Doug Slaten will be used to match up against hitters at varying times.

"I look to Brandon Lyon to be our eighth-inning game," Melvin said. "I may use him at times in the seventh because he can throw his breaking ball over and go hard and soft, whereas Pena is more hard, hard, hard. If I feel like my tougher outs are coming in the seventh, I may pitch him in the seventh, but the way I look at it right now, he's our No. 1 setup guy."

Injury update: Outfielder Jeff DaVanon (shoulder/ankle) has made improvements, but there is still no timetable for his return to the active roster.

Melvin said that when DaVanon is healthy, he will need a Minor League injury rehabilitation assignment before he's ready to be activated.

Outfielder Carlos Quentin (shoulder) will likely continue strengthening the area around his torn labrum for the next four days or so before swinging the bat again. The club will err on the side of caution in limiting Quentin's swings initially.