2009 Season Preview: Arizona Diamondbacks

The Diamondbacks came within two games of winning the National League West division in 2008, but fell short to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Brandon Webb and Dan Haren combined for two magnificent seasons on the mound.

Arizona’s offseason was extremely quiet; their only major signing was pitcher Jon Garland, and that was to a one-year deal. The main reasons for the silence are the recession the economy is in and the front-office changes the D-Backs underwent.

The Diamondbacks lost two prominent pitchers from their staff in 2008. Closer Brandon Lyons signed a contract with the Detroit Tigers and #3 starter Randy Johnson reached a deal with the San Francisco Giants. They are close to losing Adam Dunn through free agency as well. Dunn was acquired by the Diamondbacks via trade with the Reds.

If Arizona wants to contend with the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2009 season, they surely need more production out of their offense. Only two hitters recorded batting averages above .300: Orlando Hudson and Conor Jackson; everyone else on the team hit in the .200s. Mark Reynolds, the team leader in homeruns (28), only had a .239 batting average in 2008. Highly touted prospect Justin Upton, brother of Rays’ outfielder BJ Upton, hit a measly .250 in over 100 games played in his rookie year.

Though many would say outfielder Chris Young’s 2008 season was worse than his 2007 season due to his homerun production, his on-base percentage was 20 points higher and he drove in more runs too. Plus, his batting average went up from .237 to .248. Plus Young hit seven more XBH in 2008 than in 2007.

Arizona’s rotation still has a dominant 1-2 combination with Webb and Haren, but the rest of it is depleted. Jon Garland is more of an innings-eater with a high ERA. With Randy Johnson gone and Micah Owings on the Reds (from the Dunn trade), they will have to use Max Scherzer and Doug Davis in the final two rotation spots.

The closer role will be filled by either Jon Rauch or Chad Qualls, with Qualls receiving a slight edge. Rauch pitched horribly down the stretch in 2008 while Qualls was most impressive in August and September (1.01 ERA).

The addition of Scott Schoeneweis makes the Diamondback bullpen a little shaky, but if Qualls and Tony Pena can have brilliant seasons, their bullpen may be a little less irritating.

Overall, I predict the Diamondbacks to finish with an 81-81 record in 2009, good for second place in the west. Their offense is too weak to contend with that of the Dodgers. They need to hope Webb and Haren can both pitch like Cy Young award contenders to stand a chance.
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Tomorrow's article will be predicting the 2009 season for the Atlanta Braves.