2008 Arizona Diamondbacks
Written February 25, 2008 by Jack Jones
In 2007 the Arizona Diamondbacks shocked everyone when they took a bunch of guys no one has heard of and won the NL West with a 90-72 record. They didn’t stop there as they went on to sweep the Cubs in the first round before eventually losing to the Rockies in the NLCS. Though the Diamond backs were probably ok bringing back the same team for 2008, as many of there players have yet to even hit their prime, they went out and got all-star pitcher Dan Haren in a big trade with Oakland. Manager Bob Melvin who did a great job in 2007 of bringing the young talent along and making them winners leads them in the dugout. The Diamondbacks won’t have an easy rode back to a division title as the Dodgers are expected to join the mix making it a tough 4 team battle with the Rockies and Padres.
Pitching:
With the combination of former Cy Young winner Brandon Webb and the newly added second ace Dan Haren, the Diamondbacks have one of the best 1-2 combos in baseball. If expected third starter Randy Johnson can pitch anything like he was could this will be a very tough team to beat when they throw these three pitchers at you. While Doug Davis and Micah Owings aren’t exactly in the class of the top three they have proven that they have the ability to win. If this unit is going to struggle it will come from the bullpen. With the loss of closer Jose Valverde the team will turn to untested Tony Pena. Pena was solid as a setup man with 30 holds and a 3.27 ERA, but closing is a whole new ball game. The team still has solid setup men Brandon Lyon and Pena’s replacement Chad Qualls who came over with a trade with the Astros.
Offense:
The offense will need to improve this year if they want to have a repeat of 2007. Though the team won 90 games, they were outscored on the season by 20 runs. The team was 14th in the NL in runs scored. The team’s main source of power will come from the outfield, as they have solid hitters in LF Eric Byrnes and CF Chris Young. Byrnes blasted 21 homers while Young blasted 32. 2B Orlando Hudson is another solid hitter as he hit .294 with 10HRs. The team is really on their young hitters to have a breakout season, especially SS Stephen Drew and RF Justin Upton. While the team didn’t do a lot to help the offense, shows that they are counting on their pitching to carry them to the playoffs again in 2008.
Defense:
The defense was pretty impressive last year, though they did give up a few too many extra outs last year. Snyder did excellent behind the plate stopping the other teams running game. Hudson was a Gold Glove winner at second base and while no one else was as impressive they have a bunch of solid defenders.
Prediction:
We like the pitching to carry this team through the regular season for a second straight NL West division title. We aren’t sure if they will be able to keep up with the other teams in the postseason as the Mets, Cubs, and Phillies all have solid 1-2 pitchers and much better offenses.
2008 Arizona Diamondbacks Odds to Win World Series 20-1
For every team’s odds head over to Sportsbook.com and check them out. You can also go to Sportsbook.com to look at the odds for teams to win their division or league pennant. Feel free to leave any comments in the comment section.