The Arizona Diamondbacks have their first spring training game in just 15 days with split-squad games against the San Francisco Giants and the Colorado Rockies. April 6th marks the regular-season opener at Chase Field against the Giants. 

With about seven weeks to go, the Diamondbacks have some important questions to answer if they want to duplicate and improve upon last years success.

2011 started slowly with an 11-15 record in April but turned into a sizzling May, including winning 13 of 14 to finish the month 30-25. June and July came and went without much fanfare, but in August the D'Backs boasted a seven- and nine-game winning streak to finish the month at 78-59.  By the end of the regular season, the Diamondbacks finished 94-68 and went on to a heartbreaking NLDS Game 5 extra-inning loss to the Brewers.

Unexpected power and solid pitching were the hallmarks of the club...which leads us to our first question.

1. Who Will Protect Justin Upton In The Lineup?

Upton had a solid year, hitting .289 with 31 HR, 88 RBI, and 21 SB. Those aren't MVP numbers, but Upton is the heart and soul of the lineup.

Without another hitter to protect him, he won't be in position to repeat 2011. 

Last year, Miguel Montero finished the year batting behind Upton and had a career year (.282/18/86).  Montero is the most likely to keep the cleanup spot, although a superb spring training by new arrival Jason Kubel could change things.

Paul Goldschmidt is another option after hitting .438 in the postseason, but experience will likely win out and the desire to have a lefty hit behind Upton will push Goldschmidt down the order. 

2. Can The Starting Pitching Hold Up?

Ian Kennedy, Daniel Hudson and Joe Saunders all started 33 games and threw over 212 innings for Arizona. Newly acquired Trevor Cahill started 34 games and threw 207.2 innings while Josh Collmenter, who didn't start until mid-May, started 24 and pitched 154.1 innings.

The ability of every starter to avoid injury again and put up that kind of volume is unrealistic.

The D'Backs are going to need Barry Enright or Wade Miley to step up and make a few starts along the way. Disregarding injuries, the D'Backs have an excellent starting staff that can hold up to almost every National League club.

3. Will Arizona Get Killed In The Outfield Corners?

Jason Kubel and Justin Upton will play the corner outfield positions for the Arizona defense and that's trouble. Upton made 13 errors in 2011, most of any outfielder, and the third time he's led the league.

Jason Kubel was utilized mostly as a DH in the AL and rates as well below average in left field. Kubel, in limited time, has exactly one assist in left field in 96 chances in the last three years (Gerardo Parra was a Gold Glove winner and had 12 in 281 chances last year alone).

Upton showed a laser arm and an excellent ability to get to the ball, but seemed to lose concentration at times. Kubel has the unenviable task of replacing a Gold Glover and will feel a lot of pressure, especially if he isn't hitting well.

Chris Young will be tasked with covering a lot of room in center and Arizona is likely to struggle either in the gaps or down the lines...or both.

4. Is The Bullpen Going To Perform As Well As 2011?

The Diamondbacks made a bit of a change of philosophy heading into 2011 when they spent money and made trades for relief pitching and it paid off well. J.J. Putz finished third in the league in saves with 45 and the Diamondbacks led all of baseball with 58 as a team.

In 2012, Arizona pairs the live arm of David Hernandez with the veteran arms of Brad Ziegler, Craig Breslow and Takashi Saito.

It makes me nervous that Arizona will have exactly one power arm in the pen to use in the seventh and eighth inning. If Putz were to go down, Hernandez could fill in, but the reverse could not happen. There's no reason to expect Hernandez to suffer an injury at age 26, but there is no major league depth to help out if it happens.

5. Can Arizona Slug Their Way To Wins Again?

Arizona was ninth in runs scored despite being 19th in average because of their slugging ability and speed. Aside from Upton, the hitters with the most home runs in 2011 were Chris Young with 20 and Ryan Roberts with 19. Young hit .236 last year and is a career .240 hitter. Roberts had a career year at age 31 but still only hit .249.

A very telling statistic for this team is that they were dead last in baseball at productive outs. A productive out is when a pitcher lays down a successful sacrifice with one out, a runner is advanced with no outs or a runner is driven in with the second out of the inning. Good teams make use of their outs by hitting it to the right side to advance the runner or by using sacrifice bunts.

Bottom line, Arizona was very fortunate for most of the year but their lack of bat control got them at the worst possible time.

In the ninth inning of the season-ending loss to the Brewers, the Diamondbacks had the game tied at two with runners at first and second and no outs. The next three hitters struck out, grounded out to the pitcher and grounded out to shortstop.

2012 looks to be a year that hinges on health and luck. To use a gambling analogy, the Diamondbacks have gone all-in with their starters and are hoping to get lucky to stay away from injury.

It's too bad luck is for losers.

Prediction : 80-82, 3rd in NL West

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