After a 90 win and NL West division championship season in 2007, the D-Backs took a huge step backward with a dismal 82 campaign in a relatively week division considering the Dodgers who took the division only had 84 wins. Really, that division was up for grabs and any of the five teams only had to play marginal baseball, that’s how big of a safety net those teams had.
Back to the D-Backs, some things do look bright come opening day with a very young outfield in Justin Upton and Chris Young.
Young had a breakout season having played in 160 games, so his durability is solid. He averaged almost a hit per game with 155, and was a double’s machine cranking out 42. His 22 homeruns and 85 RBI really showed his all round game and should only get better this season. As for Justin Upton, he may not be his brother BJ, but he can chip in whenever offensively. But the D-Backs will look more to his defensive capabilities, especially in a wide outfield at Chase Field.
To round out the outfield, Eric Byrnes is an excellent player to compliment the two young guns, and can be relied on to hit at least 20 homeruns, but the upcoming season will decide his future with Arizona. Byrnes is coming off an injury plagued season where he only got into 52 games and could be dealt this season if Connor Jackson repeats last season’s offensive output.
Those two will battle it out for one of the final starting outfield spots in spring training, and I would have to put my money on Connor Jackson.
In the infield the loss of second basemen Orlando Hudson to the Dodgers will hurt this team. In 2007 Hudson had a standout year, but near the end he broke his hand and missed the D-Backs’ run to the NLCS. There the D-Backs saw they could play without Hudson, and Hudson’s 2008 season really didn’t help his case to stick with Arizona either. Still he is extremely reliable defensively, and is not known for his offensive numbers.
The rest of the infield is okay, that is if Stephen Drew and Felipe Lopez can match or even come close to what they did last season. Drew showed he was reliable having played in 152 games and did hit 21 homeruns.
The catching situation for the D-Backs is pretty much set with power hitting Chris Snyder who belted 16 homeruns and drove in 64 RBI. In each of his last four seasons, Snyder has nicely progressed into a very good starting catcher. If he can build on last seasons numbers, this guy could be looking at an All-Star selection.
Pitching may just have to carry this team through the season, and their overall performance and how far this Arizona team can go will most likely depend on pitching.
The D-Backs added Jon Garland in the off-season to add to their starting rotation which will be led off by staff ace Brandon Webb, and Dan Haren. With these three on the mound, they will shoulder a lot of the load and will have to eat up plenty of innings to keep the pressure off the bullpen.
With Jon Garland the D-Backs have experience in a World Series Championship, and back to back 18 win seasons. Following a sub par disastrous 2007 season with a 10-13 record, Garland seemed to get back on track with a 14 win season. His lofty ERA from last season, 4.90, raises eye brows, and Garland could’ve been looking at another losing season, had it not been for the White Sox bullpen.
Everyone knows exactly what Brandon Webb could do, and he is another player that has progressed nicely, and won an amazing 22 games with a 3.30 ERA to boot. In the last two seasons, Webb has won 40 games and is a dominant and intimidating force. With contract talks put to a rest, Webb and the D-Backs can now focus on what is most important, and Arizona fans can breathe a sigh of relief knowing their Ace will not be distracted.
With Dan Haren on board for a full season in the National League, the D-Backs will really make some noise, and by seasons’ end could have one of the best starting rotations in the NL.
POSITIVE --> STARTING ROTATION, BUT THE REAL JON GARLAND NEEDS TO STEP UP.
NEGATIVE --> THIS TEAM WILL LACK IN SCORING RUNS AND THE OFFENSIVE OUTPUT WILL HEAVLIY RELY ON JUSTIN UPTON AND CHRIS YOUNG.
X-FACTOR --> THE ENTIRE BULLPEN OR CONNOR JACKSON, WHATEVER WAY YOU LOOK AT IT. BULLPEN NEEDS TO COMPLIMENT THE STARTING 5. JACKSON WILL HAVE TO REPEAT HIS 162 HIT SEASON AND 75 RBI.
SLEEPER PICK --> FELIPE LOPEZ QUIETLY HAD 136 HITS FOR A SECOND BASEMEN AND COULD REPEAT THOSE NUMBERS AGAIN.
PREDICTION --> THE NL WEST COULD COME DOWN TO A 3 TEAM RACE BETWEEN THE D-BACKS, GIANTS AND DODGERS. IN THE END, THE D-BACKS WILL COME OUT ON TOP.
The opinions and thoughts expressed in this or any other article written by 12nadnuk are of his thinking and what he thinks is correct or close to it in the sporting world. If there are any problems by anyone, 12nadnuk is open for rebuttal and what not, and honest criticism. There is also a comments section, so feel free to post what is on your mind about the article. Thank you for reading.
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