2010 Arizona Diamondbacks Predictions

Written by Jack Jones

The Arizona Diamondbacks went into the 2009 season with high hopes, but those hopes were wrecked when Brandon Webb went off the mound on Opening Day. The former Cy Young winner needed surgery to repair his right shoulder, and he didn’t pitch again the rest of the season. Bob Melvin was fired as manager after their 12-17 start, and GM Josh Byrnes replaced him with farm director A.J. Hinich. This was a very controversial move because Hinich hadn’t been a head coach on any level. The Diamondbacks finished 70-92 last season, and saw their home attendance drop nearly 5,000 fans/game from the previous year as the team finished as the only NL West club with a losing home record. Hinich will get another shot this year, and Arizona is hoping Webb can return for the start of the season so he can again combine with Dan Haren as one of the top 1-2 combos in the league. Baseball odds have been posted for futures, and the Diamondbacks projected win total for 2010 is set at 82.5.

Pitching:

Bradnon Webb is 87-62 with a 3.27 ERA for his career. He is still one of the best starters in the game when healthy, and should be ready to go shortly after the season starts. No. 2 Dan Haren has done his best to fill the void, going 16-8 with a 3.33 ERA in 2008 and 14-10 with a 3.14 ERA in ‘09 in his first two seasons with the Diamondbacks. Arizona shipped Max Scherzer and Daniel Schlereth to Detroit in exchange for Edwin Jackson and Ian Kennedy. Jackson will be their No. 3 starter after going 13-9 with a 3.62 ERA with the Tigers last season. Kennedy gets the No. 4 spot and will finally get his chance as a full-time starter in the big leagues. Billy Buckner is in line to get the No. 5 spot. Arizona’s relievers were sub-par last year to say the least, posting a 4.61 ERA as a bullpen. Chad Qualls will be their closer again after finishing with 24 saves and a 3.63 ERA. The Diamondbacks brought in veterans Bob Howry and Aaron Heilman to help set-up games along side Juan Gutierrez, who has a big arm and a mid-90’s fastball.

Hitting:

The Diamondbacks have a young stud at catcher in Miguel Montero. He hit .294 with 16 HR’s and 59 RBI’s in his first season as a full-time starter. Arizona brought in Adam LaRoche to add some power at 1B. LaRoche is an underrated player, hitting at least 20 HR’s with at least 78 RBI’s every season since 2005. 2B Kelly Johnson also comes over from Atlanta to play second base. He was very productive in 2007 and 2008 with the Braves, but saw a big drop-off in ‘09. 3B Mark Reynolds led the league in strikeouts last year, but that was acceptable considering he hit .260 with 44 HR’s, 102 RBI’s and 98 Runs scored in ‘09. SS Stephen Drew has yet to live up to his potential, but if he can return to his ‘08 form in which he hit .291 with 21 HR’s while scoring 91 Runs, the Diamondbacks have a solid infield at their disposal. The outfield features Connor Jackson in left, Chris Young in center and Justin Upton in right. Young has been a major disappointment since 2007 when he hit 32 HR’s. Young hit just .212 with 15 HR’s and 42 RBI’s in 2009. He needs to break through finally. Upton has lived up to his billing, blossoming in 2009 while hitting .300 with 26 HR’s, 86 RBI’s and 20 SB’s. Jackson battled through injuries last season and saw just 99 at-bats. But he still has a great eye for the ball, hitting .284 in 2007 and .300 in ‘08. From what he’s done in Winter and Spring ball, it looks like Jackson is back on track.

Jack’s Prediction: 3rd in the NL West and OVER 82.5 Wins – This is an excellent sleeper pick to win this division if you want to give them a shot. If Webb can return within the first month of the season, which it looks like he’s going to, the Diamondbacks are going to be solid at the front of their rotation. This is a line-up full of potential and one that I would not be surprised to see break through this season. With Upton and Reynolds providing the power, and guys like Young, Jackson, Drew and Johnson all more than capable of bouncing back this year, the Arizona Diamondbacks could make some noise in this up-for-grabs division. But because there are so many question marks surrounding this team, I’m not about to pick them to finish ahead of the Dodgers or Rockies.

Archived Season Previews:

2009
2008

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