Arizona Diamondbacks Preview
Last season’s 26 game turnaround was a huge success for the Arizona
Diamondbacks despite still finishing 8 games under the .500 mark. It’s more than
hard on a franchise to lose 2 of the best pitchers in baseball in Schilling and
Johnson. Pitching was the backbone of their team. It gained them a World Series
Championship and afforded them some great years. Oh how the tides have turned.
Their staff last season was one of the worst in the National League and they are
trying to battle their way back to respectability via Orlando Hernandez and
Miguel Batista. The addition of El Duke from the World Champs is key as he has
pitched a lot of big games in his young career with the Yankees and Whiteseox.
Ace Brandon Webb should be sturdy at the top of the rotation as last year he
showed improvement and could be poised for 20+ wins this season. He will likely
fall just short due to a lack of run support, but it won’t be for lack of having
good stuff on the mound.
Arizona is a weak offensive team and they especially struggled last season. And
they didn’t do enough to improve their situation this past offseason. Luis
Gonzalez hopes to return to form after his elbow injuries of the last few
seasons, but he will just be a shadow of the player he was at his peak, while
Chad Tracey is a promising youngster with a big bat. There is little else in
this lineup that is going to scare opposing pitchers. The Diamondbacks are
hoping their current no-namers can step up.
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Arizona had way too much pressure but on their bats last season
as their pitching wasn’t dominant. Hopefuly the additions to their staff will
help relieve some of that pressure. They were a terrible 13-41 versus lefties in
2004. This improved in 2005 and I expect it to improve or at least plateau in
2006. One thing to look for is that these Diamondbacks are so bad against
lefties that it skews the line when they are facing righties. They finished .500
against right-handed pitching on the season for a positive gain. To take this
one step further, the Diamondbacks were 34-28 on the road against righties in
2005 for a positive 14 units. It will be important to pick your spots on the
2006 Diamondbacks. They should have some success within their weak division
against right handed pitching. Also, watch to see how they start the season
against lefties. If the south paws are owning them again this season, we’ll be
able to make some nice profits. As far as the division goes, they will again
profit from weak competition. The Giants, Dodgers, and Padres are all sub-par
teams at best, and if this team can earn there way up to somewhere around .500
then they will have a chance to make the playoffs. This will largely depend on
keeping their pitching staff healthy and performing well on the road.
2006 Baseball Previews
Free MLB Picks by
Jimmy Boyd
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