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2011 Mlb Predictions-arizona Diamondbacks
The Diamondbacks offense thrived off the home run last year, but when they didn't succeed with the home run, they were more than likely striking out, as they set a major league record with 1,528 strike outs. The Diamondbacks cut ways with Adam LaRoche and Mark Reynolds, who struck out 383 times in 2010. The Diamondbacks are hoping a strong nucleus of young talent and some nice new additions will help them be more consistent in 2011. Arizona should still score a lot of runs with the guys at the top of the order. Chris Young provides power (27 home runs) and speed (28 stolen bases) at the top of the order. Kelly Johnson is just what you want as your No. 2 hitter, he not only has the power to drive the ball all over the field, but also hits for a nice average. Those two get things going for Justin Upton and Stephen Drew, who didn't exactly go off last season, but should only continue to get better. The Diamondbacks are also extremely high on catcher Miguel Montero, who had his 2010 season cut short because of knee injury. If he can stay healthy we believe he will be one of the big surprises in all of baseball this season. The rest of the lineup will be filled with the additions of first baseman Juan Miranda, who never really got a chance to show what he could do with the Yankees, third baseman Melvin Mora, who really turned it on after the All-Star break last season despite his age, and left fielder Xavier Nady, is expected to take over the starting job in left field. Starting Rotation Arizona unloaded some quality arms by trading away Dan Haren and Edwin Jackson midway through last season, in hopes of rebuilding for the future, and they couldn't be happier with the pickup of Daniel Hudson, who dazzled Arizona fans with a 7-1 record and 1.68 ERA in 11 starts after coming over from the White Sox. Right away Hudson made his mark as one of the top pitchers on this staff, and has the talent to become one of the best pitchers in the league. The Diamondbacks received Joe Sanders in the Haren trade, and while he went just 3-7 with a 4.25 ERA, he went 33-14 over his previous two seasons, and we think his numbers will be much better this year. Arizona is also high on Ian Kennedy, who went 9-10 with a 3.80 ERA in his first full season as starter. Kennedy has the makings of an ace as well and could end up challenging Hudson for the top spot in the rotation. The other two spots in the rotation will likely go to Zach Duke and Armando Galarraga, neither has quite lived up to their potential, and if they don't get it figured out early, we wouldn't be shocked if a couple prospects ended up taking their spots. 2011 Projections: 5th Place NL West While we believe Towers will be able to make Arizona a contender again, we don’t think it will be in 2011. The rotation is strong at the top, but not a lot to be excited about after that. Offensively Arizona could surprise, but when it’s all said and done, we don’t see a whole lot of progress made this year. Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com Jack Jones is a seasoned baseball handicapper who offers expert MLB predictions. His goal is to help you win through exploiting weaknesses in the daily baseball lines. |
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