Arizona Diamondbacks Rotation and Bullpen Analysis

Last year, the NL West was the weakest division in the National League.  In fact, the top four in the Central were better than the division champion Los Angeles Dodgers.  The Dodgers have a lot of returning players, highlighted by the 36-year-old phenom Manny Ramirez. 

The Dodgers certainly have a lot to be excited about, and hope to build on their success from 2008, where they reached, and ultimately lost, the NLCS.  Not many people saw that coming after the first month of the season ended last year, because a different team got off to a very hot start. 

The Arizona Diamondbacks won 20 games in the month of April.  They look to build on some postseason success in 2007 and erase growing pains from 2008, as one of baseball's brightest young teams hopes to win the division and go back to the playoffs.

In part one of this two part article, I'll look at the pitching staff for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Diamondbacks are a very interesting staff, to say the least.  They are anchored by ace Brandon Webb, one of the best pitchers in major league baseball.  Webb features a power sinker, a plus fastball, and command to boot. 

The 2006 Cy Young Award winner won 22 games last year and was runner up to Tim Lincecum in voting. 

He's backed up in the rotation by Dan Haren, a guy who would be the ace on any other team in the NL West.  These two combined for 38 wins last year, a huge number.  They registered 47 quality starts between them. 

These two No. 1s aren't the key to the team though, because at the end of the year, barring injuries, their numbers will be there, as they always are.

Doug Davis enjoyed a remarkable season in 2008.  After being diagnosed with thyroid cancer last spring, he made two regular season starts before going under the knife.  He successfully had his thyroid removed and returned to be a dependable starter the rest of the year, even taking a perfect game bid into the seventh inning against the Padres late in the season.

Jon Garland comes over to the NL for the first time in his career, rounding out the fourth spot in the rotation.  This guy, while his numbers won't jump out at you, gets it done. 

For seven straight seasons he has logged at least 191 innings per year.  Garland will eat innings and will give his squad a chance to win. 

Fireballer Max Scherzer completes the rotation at the five spot.  Even though he will begin the season on the DL, the Snakes won't need the fifth starter til April 14. 

As far as stuff goes, he has the best on the entire rotation, and that includes Webb and Haren.  His fastball hits the high 90s with regularity, he features a nasty breaking ball; Scherzer has also added a good changeup to his repertoire this spring. 

If he can overcome some injuries and stay healthy and consistent in his first full year, he'll be far and away the best fifth starter in baseball this year. 

The bullpen could be decent.  Chad Qualls has very good stuff that isn't talked about often.  His fastball has a sinking action that is similar to Webb.  Qualls can occasionally reach back and throw the ball as high as 95-96 mph. 

He produces a lot of ground ball outs, and a lot of swing and misses.  He finished last year with nine saves and pitched very well down the stretch. 

If the Diamondbacks are to be successful at the end of games, look for him to eclipse the 30 save mark and have an ERA in the low to mid threes.

Scott Schoeneweis comes into the bullpen as a left handed specialist.  He pieced together a good season for the Mets last year, with an ERA of 3.34. 

Yusmeiro Petit pitched decently last year and will fill a long reliever spot in the bullpen.  He may also be called upon to spot start if the need arises. 

Tony Pena and/or Jon Rauch will serve as the bridge to Qualls.  Pena had a down year last year and hopes to get back to the form he showed in 2007, where he enjoyed an ERA of 3.27 and a WHIP of 1.10. 

Hitters hit just .207 against him that year.  Now that he doesn't have the pressure of being a closer put on him, he can get back to doing what he does best. 

Pena has a great slider and a plus fastball that tops out in the mid 90s.  Rauch has been a successful closer before in Washington and could step in should Qualls struggle. 

He's another power arm in the bullpen that will serve as a complement to the excellent rotation.

All in all, the starting rotation matches up to any in the National League, with the possible exception of the Chicago Cubs.  Their bullpen remains a bit shaky, but has the talent to get it done. 

The Diamondbacks' pitching remains the strength of their team, and by far the strongest in their division.

The starters will definitely be able to get the D-Backs deep into games.  Will the bullpen be able to hold the leads they'll be given? 

Who knows if they'll even be able to get leads, as they have an offense with tons of potential, but also tons of question marks.  We'll look at it in the next article.