Dontrelle Willis put on the old English ‘D’ of the Detroit Tigers. Johan Santana is on his way to don the orange and blue New York Mets jersey. Among all the media mayhem over such big names moving to new teams, possibly the biggest pitcher on the move during the off-season did not garner the focus of baseball fans nationwide.
The baseball world was sent into a frenzy over the Marlins shipping the left-handed Willis, along with third baseman Miguel Cabrera to the Tigers. Nine days later, Diamondbacks fans were celebrating the acquisition of pitcher Dan Haren from the Oakland Athletics.
The starting pitcher for the American League in the 2007 All-Star Game, Haren will team up with ace Brandon Webb to form arguably the best 1-2 punch in the National League. Haren brings his 15-9 record and 3.07 ERA in 2007 to a rotation that already features Webb, Randy Johnson, Doug Davis, and Micah Owings.
The Diamondbacks are coming off a season in which they won the NL West and swept the Chicago Cubs in the Division Series before losing to the Colorado Rockies in the NL Championship Series. With all but one key component (closer Jose Valverde) returning to the Diamondbacks pitching staff for the 2008 season, adding Haren may make them the favorites in the West.
Webb will be the Opening Day starter against the Cincinnati Reds. After winning the NL Cy Young in 2006, Webb came back with a strong campaign in 2007, finishing second in the voting to Jake Peavy of the San Diego Padres. The sinker-balling Webb ranked among the top three in the NL in many statistical categories in 2007. He ranked second in wins (18), second in ERA (3.01), first in complete games (4), and led all of baseball in shutouts (3).
Webb had a memorable stretch in the second half of the season. Starting with a scoreless bottom of the 7th inning against the Cubs on July 20th, Webb did not give up a run until the top of the 1st against the Brewers on August 22nd. The 42-inning scoreless streak spanned over his next 5 starts, 3 of them complete game shutouts. Overall in the second half, Webb had 10 wins with an ERA of 2.56, including 4 wins and an ERA of 1.83 in the month of August.
The 44-year old Johnson is looking to bounce back from back surgery on a re-herniated disk in his lower back. The 6′10″ giant has racked up 284 wins in his career, and will be looking to write his name into the heralded 300 win club. In 10 games last year, Johnson went 4-3 with a 3.81 ERA and 76 K’s in 56.2 innings. Johnson could be the number two starter in the rotation, to split up the right handed Webb and Haren. The biggest thing Johnson brings to the rotation is 22 years of big league experience that is a welcome veteran experience on a young team.
The fourth spot will be filled by Davis, a 13 game winner in 2007. Davis brings a different dimension to the Diamondbacks rotation. After the sinker-baller Webb, the gunslinger Johnson, and the hard throwing Haren, Davis is a more soft-throwing and finesse pitcher. In the last 4 seasons, Davis has won an average of just under 12 games, 12 in 2004, 11 in 2005 and 2006, and 13 in 2007. The reliability in production makes Davis a valuable pitcher to have in the fourth rotation slot.
The final starting spot is occupied by part pitcher/part slugger Micah Owings. Owings made his debut last season with the Diamondbacks on April 6th last year, and showed the abilities on the mound and at the plate that earned him All-American as a utility (pitcher/position player) at Tulane University. He led all MLB pitcher in doubles (7), homers (4), RBI (15) and total bases (41). The impressive numbers earned Owings the Silver Slugger award for pitchers at the end of the season.
Owings’ success were not limited to the plate however, he won 8 games in his rookie campaign with a 4.30 ERA. He had two complete games, one being a shutout. If Owings can put up some solid numbers again this year, it would be a nice boost from the bottom of the rotation.
With two potential Cy Young winners, a future Hall of Famer, and a power hitting pitcher in the rotation, Diamondbacks fans have good reason to be excited about this season. At the center of that excitement is what could prove to be the biggest trade of the off-season. If things go as GM Josh Byrnes planned when making the trade for Haren, the baseball world will have it’s eyes on the Diamondbacks in October.
