The 133rd season of Major League Baseball is upon us. Over the next month and half, we will be taking a look at each ball club, leading up to the Expert Predictions of the esteemed staff at Sparty & Friends. We will be previewing each team, from worst to first. Fa-hon-ix is where we will be heading today

Sparty Note: Sorry for the lateness again. Real jobs get in the way sometimes.  We will be back to our 11am preview time on Monday, March 9.

This team has always been willing to take chances, and with some of the deadline deals they pulled last year they certainly were no different. They went in full win now mode trading a lot of their prospects for guys like Dan Haren and Adam Dunn. Risky? Yes. Good idea? No. They were left sitting at home in October…you know who else was at home in October? The Kansas City Royals!

Last Season: 82-80 (2nd place in the NL West)

Who’s Gone: Randy Johnson (via FA), Adam Dunn (via FA)

Who’s New: Scott Schoeneweis (FA), Tom “Flash” Gordon (FA), Jon Garland (FA)

Projected Lineup:

1. Stephen Drew (SS)
2. Eric Byrnes (LF)
3. Conor Jackson (1B)
4. Mark Reynolds (3B)
5. Justin Upton (RF)
6. Chris B. Young (CF)
7. Felipe Lopez (2B)
8. Chris Snyder (C)
9. Pitcher

Projected Rotation:

1. RHP Brandon Webb
2. RHP Dan Haren
3. RHP Jon Garland
4. LHP Doug Davis
5. RHP Max Scherzer

Key Bench Players: Chad Tracy, Tony Clark, and Josh Whitesell

Lineup Outlook: Stephen Drew, Conor Jackson, Mark Reynolds, Justin Upton and Chris B. Young are the nucleus of what could be a great lineup if they live up to their potential. Each player has been tabbed a promising prospect at some point in their careers and while they are still green horns, the team is expecting them to anchor the lineup. Eric Byrnes, the constant clubhouse presence, will never put up huge numbers, but does give you a decent veteran to surround with young talent. Reynolds will probably hit .225 and strikeout more than Deion Sanders at a PETA convention, but he’ll send what he makes contact with over the fence.

Starting Rotation: The unit of Brandon Webb and Dan Haren are probably best 1-2 starting punch in the major leagues…so long as you don’t include Elijah Dukes! ZING! Add to that lineup a solid pitcher like Jon Garland and lefty Doug Davis you have a pretty good rotation. Without a doubt though the D-Backs will be relying on number 1 and number 2 to get them through the year.

Bullpen: Chad Qualls is your closer after winning the job down the stretch last year, after taking over from the since-departed free agent Brandon Lyon.. Righthanders Tony Pena and Jon Rauch will likely be the setup men and occasionally spell Qualls. The D-Backs have also added veterans Scott Schoeneweis and Tom Gordon,to shore up a bullpen that struggled at times last year.

Prediction: The D-Backs need bats and without them they are probably going to struggle at times. I fully believe the pitching staff is enough to get them back to the postseason, but it will be on the backs of a rather weak NL West. This team will probably win 80-85 games, usually with soccer scores. GOOOOOOOOAL!

The Batting Stance Guy gives us some of the famous batting stances of the Dbacks:

GatorTrey is a Senior Writer at Sparty & Friends.  He can be reached at gatortrey@spartyandfriends.com

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