The Diamondbacks are going to be an interesting team to watch this season. They have the talent to win the NL West but like last season they could crash and burn.
Starters
The pitching staff this season obviously starts and ends with Brandon Webb. If he is healthy and throws like he is capable of throwing we are going to be just fine. If he is hurt then all bets are off. No need to go in depth with Haren. We all know what he brings. Edwin Jackson will serve us better than Scherzer did last season. Yes, Scherzer has better stuff than Jackson does, but Jackson will go deeper into games more consistently than Scherzer ever could. Having a guy go at least 6 innings a game ever game will help our bullpen out a ton. If he can give us 6 innings a game with an ERA around 3.75 then the trade would be a success. Ian Kennedy should be our 4th starter and I have absolutely no idea what he will do. He has talent, there is no question about it, but it has never fully clicked for him in the majors. Is that because he was trying to break into the big leagues in New York where he would get chastised for any little mistake he made? Possibly. He has not done very well in the majors in his career but he only has 60 innings pitched with a 6 ERA. That is no where near enough time to decide his career. His minor league stats are out of this world (1.95 ERA in nearly 250 innings pitched). I would guess his true mark is somewhere around a 4 ERA or so. He is still very young so don’t expect him to pitch 200 innings like Webb, Haren, and Jackson should be able to. The D-Backs should expect him to pitch in the 140-160 innings pitched area. If he can do that with a decent ERA, than he will be a good 4th starter. Our 5th starter will be someone we have seen last year. As of now is will probably be Billy Buckner which is fine by me. You don’t expect a ton out a guy in that spot and I think Buckner is a good choice for that spot. With a rotation of Webb, Haren, Jackson, Kennedy, and Buckner the D-Backs should have the best rotation in the NL West. Obviously the Giants have the best top of the rotation (as of now, if Webb is healthy the D-Backs will challenge for that title) but I would go to battle with our rotation for a full season over anyone else’s in our division.
Bullpen
The bullpen is still our weakest part. Qualls is serviceable as a closer. He is probably best served as a set-up man but he is the best we have. Most teams struggle to find a guy who is as good as Qualls is so there is no need to complain if he blows a save here or there. It happens. There are not too many Trevor Hoffmans and Mariano Riveras out there. The rest of the bullpen is up in the air. Obviously Aaron Heilman and Bob Howry are going to be in there. Don’t expect them to be great, but don’t expect them to bomb out. They should be average. If we are lucky they will be above average and that would be fantastic. I would guess Clay Zavada will be back in the bullpen but could start the year in the minors because he has options left which unfortunately helps make decisions at the beginning of the year. I am really interested in seeing what Zach Kroenke has to offer. The rest of the bullpen will be filled with the usual cast of characters.
Infield
Our infield could be one of our biggest strengths this year, offensively speaking. We know what Mark Reynolds can do. Everyone is hoping he can cut down his strikeouts, and so do I, but you have to know he will strike out and he will strike out a lot. If he can bring down his strikeout total 20-30 strikeouts that would be fantastic. Putting the ball in play, even if it is an out would help out so much. A sac fly here, moving the runner up a base there will go a long way to scoring more runs. Stephen Drew is consistent. He will put the ball in play most of the time, draw a walk when needed, and plays decent defense. He has the talent to be one of the better shortstops out there but I doubt he will be near the top of the league this year. Our first big free agent pick up is Kelly Johnson, our new 2nd baseman. He can be one of the better offensive 2nd basemen in the league. He has power and pretty good speed. Also he isn’t that bad of a defensive 2nd baseman. Our other big pick up was Adam LaRoche. LaRoche is a notoriously slow starter. He normally flat out sucks in April and starts to turn it on mid-May. Don’t get down on him at the beginning of the season, I am warning you now. LaRoche is very good defensively and obviously a good hitter. He will strikeout but then again who doesn’t on our team? Montero should be fine. I wonder how his body will hold up being the normal starter. Luckily we still have Snyder who will catch whenever Webb pitches and possibly one other day each week. I think we will be alright in the catching department.
Outfield
Our outfield is going to be very difficult to figure out. First off you have Justin Upton, a budding superstar. He started to put it together last year and I expect that to continue. I have no worries about him. One side note, he is a good defensive right fielder. He has tremendous speed and gets to balls most people won’t. Don’t listen to Gambo about this. He is a fool. Upton is perfectly fine out there. The rest of the outfield is the question mark. Conor Jackson is going to be our starting left fielder. If he is fully healthy then he will be fine. Don’t expect him to go out and hit 30 homeruns, but he will give us a good average with a good number of doubles with a nice sprinkling of homers in there. I know many here are extraordinarily down on Chris Young. I do not share that sentiment. Will he be a .300 hitter? No, but he should be our 8th hitter and if he can hit .250 with 25 homers and 25 steals I think everyone would take that. His defense makes coping with his offense easier. He gets to balls he has no business getting to. Having Parra out in center everyday is not a viable option. He just isn’t fast enough to play center. Once in a while that is fine but not everyday.
Bench
The biggest asset of our bench is their versatility. Ryan Roberts is able to play 2nd, 3rd and left field and is the team’s emergency catcher. Rusty Ryal has played 1st, 2nd, 3rd, SS, and LF in his major and minor league career. I have already mentioned Chris Snyder who is an outstanding defensive catcher. Tony Abreu needs to show his skills at SS in spring training to make the club out of camp but he has played 2nd, 3rd, and SS in his career. Parra has the ability to play all three outfield positions. His main problem is the fact he can not hit lefties. As of right now he is best served as a platoon player and pinch hitter. While none are great, their versatility makes them a decent bench.
Overall I think this team should be in the hunt for the NL West crown as well as the wild card. I would venture to say that this team should finish between 83-86 wins if all play up to their abilities. If we can get a few guys to surpass predictions (i.e. Chris Young, Edwin Jackson, Ian Kennedy) then this team could easily win 90+.
As for our 25 man roster I would imagine it will look something like this:
Batting Order
1. Stephen Drew (L)- SS
2. Conor Jackson (R)- LF
3. Justin Upton (R)- RF
4. Adam LaRoche (L)- 1st
5. Mark Reynolds (R)- 3rd
6. Miguel Montero (L)- C
7. Kelly Johnson (L)- 2nd
8. Chris Young (R)- CF
I would venture to guess we will see Kelly Johnson tried out in the leadoff position since he has experience there. Montero and LaRoche are both interchangeable in this line up depending on whoever has the hot bat.
Bench
1. Chris Snyder (R)
2. Ryan Roberts (R)
3. Rusty Ryal (R)
4. Tony Abreu (S)
5. Gerardo Parra (L)
Starters
1. Brandon Webb (R)
2. Dan Haren (R)
3. Edwin Jackson (R)
4. Ian Kennedy (R)
5. Billy Buckner (R)
Relievers
1. Chad Qualls (R)
2. Bob Howry (L)
3. Clay Zavada (L)
4. Zach Kroenke (R)
5. Aaron Heilman (R)
6. Juan Gutierrez (R)
7. Esmerling Vasquez (R)
