Diamondbacks camp report
TEMPE, Ariz. -- Five things to know about the Arizona Diamondbacks:
1. Center fielder Chris Young's nine leadoff home runs last season tied for sixth-most of any big-league campaign, ranking behind Alfonso Soriano's totals of 13 (with the Yankees in 2003) and 12 (with the Cubs in '07), Brady Anderson's 12 (Baltimore, 1996), Jacque Jones' 11 (Minnesota, 2002) and Bobby Bonds' 11 (San Francisco, 1973).
2. The Diamondbacks sure hope they don't hear as much about run differential this year as last. The NL West champs became only the fifth club in big league history to reach the playoffs while giving up more runs than it scored during the regular season. Still, they didn't add any significant offensive pieces for 2008, preferring instead to trust their young players' continued development. GM Josh Byrnes expects better numbers in particular from shortstop Stephen Drew (.238, 12 homers, 60 RBI in 2007) and from right field, where things were so bleak that Arizona recalled Justin Upton, then 19, from the minors on Aug. 2. "Last year, we were 30th of 30 teams in the majors in right-field production," Byrnes says. "Hopefully, that will improve. I don't want to be too unreasonable in putting expectations on a 20-year-old, but Justin is an intense guy and he expects to be a very productive guy."
3. Danny Haren, last year's AL All-Star Game starter who was acquired in December, already has opened eyes in camp. "I thought he was just a fastball-split guy, but he throws a good, hard breaking ball, a cutter, he elevates his fastball," manager Bob Melvin says. The skipper's imagination is running wild over what Haren could do at all those other pitchers' parks in the NL West, such as San Diego's Petco Park, Los Angeles' Dodger Stadium, San Francisco's AT&T Park and even in Colorado, where "(Coors Field) plays bigger than it used to," Melvin says.
4. Corner infielder Chad Tracy is behind while recovering from microfracture surgery in his right knee last September, and catcher Miguel Montero suffered a broken finger while playing winter ball that has taken far longer than expected to heal. Each likely will open the season on the disabled list, which probably will open roster spots for Robby Hammock and veteran Trot Nixon. The great experiment this spring has been with Nixon at first behind Conor Jackson with Tracy out. Nixon had never played first, but might open the season as Arizona's backup first baseman.
5. Brandon Lyon is in and Jose Valverde (47 saves last year) is out as Arizona closer. Valverde was dealt to Houston in a deal that brought reliever Chad Qualls and outfielder Chris Burke back, a move made because the Diamondbacks knew Valverde's value was at its peak, he was close to pricing himself out of their range and they didn't completely trust him to duplicate a few more seasons like '07.
