Arizona Diamondbacks: Spring Training Information

By Down The Left Field Line: Life, Baseball & Eric Byrnes
Location: Tucson Electric Park - Tuscon, AZ
Pitchers and Catchers Report: Feb 15
First Game: Feb 28th vs. Colorado
Schedule

Probable Opening Day Lineup

1. Chris Young CF
2. Orlando Hudson 2B
3. Eric Byrnes LF
4. Conor Jackson 1B
5. Mark Reynolds 3B
6. Chris Synder C
7. Justin Upton RF
8. Stephen Drew SS
9. Pitcher

Probable Opening Day Rotation

1. Brandon Webb
2. Randy Johnson
3. Dan Haren
4. Doug Davis
5. Micah Owings

Probable Opening Day Bullpen

Long Relief/Spot Start: Juan Cruz and Edgar Gonzalez
Situational: Dustin Nippert, Doug Slaten
7th, 8th and Closer: To be decided from among Tony Pena, Brandon Lyon and Chad Qualls
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Key Battles: Who will be the closer? The Diamondbacks traded Jose Valverde to the Astros and now must decide if they will hand the ball in the 9th inning to Lyon, who was Valverde's set up man, Qualls, who came over in the Valverde trade, or Pena, who has closer stuff, but is still quite young. Does he have what it takes between the ears? For that matter do Lyon or Qualls have the right mental stuff. Both have closed before, but neither have been The Man lately.

The starting slots are filled but the order is still partially in question. Statistically, Dan Haren is the staff's no. 2, but Randy Johnson may fill the second slot if Mgr. Bob Melvin decides he doesn't want to start southpaws Johnson and Doug Davis back-to-back.

The rest of the questions are medical. Johnson, who will turn 45 in August, is trying to come back from surgery for a herniated disc for a second consecutive year. Expect the D'Backs to be very careful with Johnson in the spring, but he is expected to be ready on Opening Day.

Third baseman Chad Tracy likely will not be so fortunate. He had microfracture surgery in September. His rehab suffered a setback when he developed a blood clot in his leg at Thanksgiving. Mark Reynolds will hold down the fort until Tracy returns and if Reynolds is doing well, it might be difficult for Melvin to bench him in order to restore Tracy to his status as the regular third baseman. Tracy can pick up at-bats by serving as back up to first baseman Conor Jackson. That's a spot that needs filling since Tony Clark was let go to make roster room for back up 2B/OF Chris Burke, acquired from Houston.

Relief pitcher Doug Slaten also had microfracture surgery. He is working out and could be available Opening Day.

What to expect: The biggest questions for the Diamondbacks are all on the pitching side: how healthy will Randy Johnson be? How well Haren will adjust to the change of leagues? When will Doug Slaten be back? How will the back of the bullpen sort out? But Bob Melvin will know who his team is when spring training opens.

This is ByrnesBlogger1's third season covering the Arizona Diamondbacks through the blog Down The Left Field Line: Life, Baseball & Eric Byrnes.

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