2007 Arizona Diamondbacks Preview

The Arizona Diamondbacks have faltered ever since their World Series win a few years back. An early rise to the top last season took a tremendous turn for the worse with the June 5th performance-enhancing drug bust of reliever Jason Grimsley. They went on a 3-20 slump after receiving all of the scrutiny from the media from Grimsley's episode. This sent the Diamondbacks from the top of the NL West to last place in the division. They made a run at the Wild Card, but were never able to recover from the midseason distractions.

The Arizona offense remained consistent and powerful despite the distractions. Orlando Hudson had the best year of his career, hitting over .300 in the second half of the season. Johnny Estrada hit .302 and Eric Byrnes became the first Diamondback with 25 homers and 25 stolen bases in a single season. Brandon Webb was the spark of the 2006 season on Arizona's pitching staff. He started the season with a 47-45 mark with a 3.28 ERA, but on the way to winning the Cy Young Award, he posted a 16-8 record with a 3.10 ERA and breezed through a perfect inning in his first ever All-Star Game. The 2007 season looks promising but the Diamondback's young talent has to step up. Orlando Hudson, Chad Tracy, and Eric Byrnes should be the only position player starters older than 24 on opening day.

The biggest offseason news for the D-backs pitching staff was that the Diamondbacks agreed with the New York Yankees on a trade that brought Randy Johnson and $2 million back to Arizona in exchange for reliever Luis Vizcaino and three minor leaguers. Can Johnson rediscover the magic he possessed the last time he was in Phoenix or is he too old to get the job done against Major League hitters? We feel he could be a sleeper and National League pitching is much easier than in the American League so he should be fine. The starting four in the pitching rotation looks very promising for the 2007 season. Brandon Webb, Randy Johnson, Livan Hernandez, and Doug Davis respectively have proven themselves in the Major Leagues. All of these pitchers have remained healthy and with 6 Cy Young awards on their side, this team has the experience in their pitching staff that could get them to the postseason. Livan Hernandez has recorded more than 200 innings in 8 out of the last 9 seasons. Doug Davis has recorded at least 34 starts and 200 innings in each of his last 3 seasons. The problem will not be the starting pitching in 2007 if there is a problem at all.

Arizona's infield looks to be very promising as well with Orlando Hudson being a veteran ring leader at 2nd Base. Hudson had his best offensive season last year, hitting .287 with 15 home runs and 67 RBIs and earned himself the NL Gold Glove while posting a .454 SLG, the best of his career. Conor Jackson (.291, 15, 79) and Chad Tracy (20 homers, 80 RBIs) return at first and third respectively. At shortstop multi-talented Stephen Drew is back to build on last year's strong debut (.316 in 209 at-bats). Fan favorite and Diamondbacks star Luis Gonzalez will not be returning as the left fielder for the D-backs outfield. He signed a $7 million deal for one year with the Los Angeles Dodgers heading into the 2007 season. Eric Byrnes is set to man Gonzalez' familiar station in left field. The elder statesman of the D-backs position players at 31, Byrnes led the club in home runs last year with 26 and his experience will help this young club get along this season. Carlos Quentin, who hit nine home runs and drove in 32 runs in just 57 games in 2006, is ticketed for right field. Rookie of the Year contender Chris Young is set to take over in center.

Jose Valverde is the closer for this team and he is going to be a big question mark this season. He allowed LHH to bat .323 against him in 2006, but just .212 for his careers. He throws an upper 90's fast ball that is tough for any hitter to catch up to. The key will be his location as he lacks consistent control, which is a major problem for a closer. Brandon Lyon, another reliever, allowed six homers in 29.1 innings in 2005 but only seven in 69.1 innings in 2006 to lower his ERA by more than 2 runs. Jorge Julio is another solid reliever for the D'Backs. He moved from a pitcher's park to a hitter's park, but lowered his ERA from 5.06 with the Mets in 2005 to .383 with the D'Backs in 2006. Arizona's pitching staff will have to carry this young team and we feel they have all of the tools to do so. Look for Arizona to make another run at a Wild Card in 2007.