In 2008, the Diamondbacks started hot out of the gate, winning 15 out of their first 20 games, powered by hot starts from Justin Upton, Dan Haren and Brandon Webb. It appeared that all of Arizona's young talent was finally ready to contribute at the major league level, but A mid-June slide brought them to .500 where they would hover around for the rest of the season eventually finishing at 82-80.
Projected Lineup:
C - Chris Snyder
1B - Chad Tracey
2B - Felipe Lopez
SS - Stephen Drew
3B - Mark Reynolds
LF - Conor Jackson
CF - Chris Young
RF - Justin Upton
Projected Rotation:
#1 - Brandon Webb
#2 - Dan Haren
#3 - John Garland
#4 - Doug Davis
#5 - Max Scherzer
Closer - Chad Qualls
Position Battles:
2B - Felipe Lopez joins the Diamondbacks from St. Louis where he ended the season with a bang. He and Augie Ojeda will duke it out in spring training.
1B - If Eric Byrnes is healthy, he will occupy one of the outfield spots, moving Conor Jackson back to his natural position at first base, all of that leaves Chad Tracey on the bench.
#5 Starter - The Diamondbacks have said they want to limit young gun Max Scherzer to 170 innings this year so its possible Yusmeiro Petit takes Scherzer's spot in the rotation over different periods throughout the year to take some pressure off the rookie.
2009 Outlook: The Diamondbacks are loaded with young talent and possess possibly the most reliable top 2 starters in the game; all of this adds up to a run at the division title. Justin Upton, Stephen Drew, and Chris Young could all take huge steps forward which would help provide some offensive firepower to help make up for the departure of Adam Dunn during the off-season.
Projected Finish: 1st place, NL West
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