Remembering a legend and The Top Ten Second Basemen Today

Before I dive into my list of the top ten second basemen in MLB, I would like to take time out to remember one of the game's giants who sadly lost his battle with brain cancer today. Hall of Fame catcher Gary Carter passed away at the age of 57, not long after he made his final public appearance at a PBAU baseball game in Florida. Mets fans remember him as the the man who started the famous '86 World Series Game 6 rally with a two-out base hit in the tenth inning.

While Carter was a popluar figure in Mets history and beloved in New York, he was loved just as much in Montreal, where he spent the first 11 seasons of his career and won two All-Star Game MVPs. He also helped guide the Expos to their first and only postseason appearance in 1981, defeating the Phillies in the first round before falling to the Dodgers in five games in the NLCS. He was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 2003, becoming in the process the first player to go in wearing an Expos cap.

Reaction from the two cities where he is remembered the most:
Montreal: Montreal Gazette Obituary, The Kid who made Montreal smile

New York: New York Times Obituary, A Star with a Smile, Forever Kid

MLB Network also reflects on Carter's legendary career:





Carter's final career hit in 1992 before the home crowd in Montreal. Harry Caray and Steve Stone with the call for the Cubs.



Our top ten list for today will be for second basemen...

10.) Omar Infante, Miami Marlins
2011 stats: .276 avg., 7 HRs, 49 RBI, 160 hits, .696 OPS
It's slim pickings at number ten, which shows the dearth of excellent second basemen around the majors. However, Omar Infante is a serviceable piece in the Marlins lineup, finishing third among NL second basemen in hits.



9.) Jemile Weeks, Oakland Athletics
2011 stats (406 ABs): .303 avg., 2 HRs, 36 RBI, 22 SBs, .761 OPS
Rickie Weeks' younger brother Jemile put together the kind of season that has A's fans excited for the future. In just 97 games, Weeks finished third among AL second basemen in steals while being one of only three players at his position to hit .300 in the Junior Circuit. Look for Jemile to ascend in this list in the coming seasons.




8.) Neil Walker, Pittsburgh Pirates
2011 stats: .273 avg., 12 HRs, 83 RBI, .742 OPS
The Pittsburgh native provided a solid bat for the Bucs last year, leading all NL second basemen in RBI and trailing only Dustin Pedroia and Robinson Cano among everyone else at the position. It was the first full season for the 26-year-old, so this year will go a long way in deciding whether or not Walker is here to stay as one of the elite second basemen in the majors.



7.) Dan Uggla, Atlanta Braves
2011 stats: .233 avg., 36 HRs, 82 RBI, .764 OPS
All throughout the spring and even into the summer, Uggla was mired in a rotten hitting funk that saw his average dip to .174 as late as June 16. He ended his slump by going on an impressive 33 game hit streak from July 5 through August 13, hitting .377 with 15 home runs and 32 RBI while recording a sick 1.200 OPS in the process. The hot streak was enough to salvage what could have been a dreadful season for Uggla, even in spite of his 36 homers which led all NL second basemen.

6.) Rickie Weeks, Milwaukee Brewers
2011 stats: .269 avg., 20 HRs, 49 RBI, .818 OPS
If it were not for an ankle injury that hobbled Weeks for much of the second half, he would have easily smashed his numbers from last year (.269 avg., 29 HRs, 83 RBI, .830 OPS). However, he still did a fair amount of damage in 118 games, finishing second among NL second basemen in homers and tied for fourth in doubles with 26.




5.) Howard Kendrick, Los Angeles Angels
2011 stats: .285 avg., 18 HRs, 63 RBI, .802 OPS
Kendrick is an underrated talent who is often  overshadowed by his own teammates, along with the four players ahead of him on this list. A line-drive hitter with a fluid stroke, Kendrick serves as a terrific complimentary piece in a very good Angels lineup, one that will be especially intimidating with the arrival of Albert Pujols and the return of Kendrys Morales. His .802 OPS was the highest of his career and was fourth in the American League, trailing Ian Kinsler, Dustin Pedroia and Robinson Cano. With more big bats in the Angels lineup this year, expect Kendrick's offensive output to improve.



4.) Brandon Phillips, Cincinnati Reds
2011 stats: .300 avg., 18 HRs, 82 RBI, .810 OPS

Phillips is the slickest fielding second baseman in not only the National League, but in all of baseball. He continues to show people just how good of an all-around player he is, and what is even better is that many around baseball are finally noticing. Phillips made his second career All-Star appearance, took home his third Gold Glove Award and surprisingly enough, hit .300 for the first time in his career. His stolen base total has gradually decreased, as the Reds have looked to him to be something of a power bat in their lineup. Even though he does not possess the prodigious power that teammates Jay Bruce and Joey Votto have, he still stands tall among his peers at second, finishing in a tie for third in homers in the NL, along with tying for second in RBI. His OPS total of .810 also ranked second in the NL.

3.) Robinson Cano, New York Yankees
2011 stats: .302 avg., 28 HRs, 118 RBI, .882 OPS
Cano possesses a glove that is nearly on par with Phillips, while carrying a more potent bat. Cano's 118 RBI and .882 OPS led all MLB second basemen while his .302 average was second to only Dustin Pedroia. He also won last year's Home Run Derby and put to rest the notion that the Derby messes up players' swings. Cano hit .309 with 13 homers and 61 RBI in the second half to go along with a .905 OPS, which was 42 points higher than his first-half total. The only reason why I have him third is because of his lack of speed, as he only notched eight steals all year.




2.) Ian Kinsler, Texas Rangers
2011 stats: .255 avg., 32 HRs, 77 RBI, .832 OPS, 30 SBs
Having a 30/30 season and leading all AL second basemen in home runs and steals should get you the number one spot in this list, right? Well this was perhaps my most difficult decision so far in my ranking. The only reason why I have him at number two is because his batting average, OPS and RBI totals are lower than Pedroia's, and there was not a significant enough distance between the two in steals for me to justify placing him at number one. Maybe classifying Kinsler as "1A" instead of number two would sound better. While he was not the scariest bat in the Rangers powerful and downright frightening lineup, he still tied Adrian Beltre for the team lead in home runs with 32, and that was only because Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz were not completely healthy for the entire season. He packs a potent enough punch at the top of the lineup to make pitchers think twice about giving him a steady diet of fastballs like they do with other leadoff hitters.

1.) Dustin Pedroia, Boston Red Sox
2011 stats: .307 avg., 21 HRs, 91 RBI, .861 OPS, 26 SBs
Pedroia displayed more power this year, and had perhaps his best all around year to date for the Red Sox. While all of the finger pointing was going on during the month of October in Beantown regarding who was slurping down beer in between taking chomps of fried chicken, nobody was pointing their finger at Pedroia. He, along with Jacoby Ellsbury were two of the primary reasons why the Red Sox managed to stay afloat as long as they did in September, even while the ship was taking on water at a rapid pace. In the final month, Pedroia hit .304 and had a solid .827 OPS. His 26 steals were the highest total of his career so far, and it can be argued that his performance last year was better than his MVP-winning performance in 2008. While not incredibly spectacular with the glove, Pedroia can still come up with the big play when his team needs it the most. Even in the aftermath of Boston's collapse, Pedroia is slowly emerging as the team's vocal and on-field leader, something that was conspicuously absent from team captain Jason Varitek last year.

The 30 Team/30 Day Report Cards: Day 11- New York Mets

Moving on from the NL Central to the NL East, we continue our report cards with a look at the New York Mets.

New York Mets

Record: 79-83 (Fourth place in NL East, 18 games behind Philadelphia)

Batting Leaders

Batting Average: Angel Pagan (.290)

Home Runs: David Wright (29)

RBIs: David Wright (103)

On-base Percentage: David Wright (.354)

Pitching Leaders

Wins: Mike Pelfrey (15)

Strikeouts: Jonathon Niese (148)

Innings Pitched: Mike Pelfrey (204)

ERA: R.A. Dickey (2.84). Bullpen- Hisanori Takahashi (2.04)

WHIP: Johan Santana (1.18). Bullpen- Hisanori Takahashi (1.13)

Saves: Francisco Rodriguez (25)

Highlight of the Season: Two separate eight-game win streaks from April 22 to April 30 and from June 10 through June 18.

Lowlight of the Season: On August 11 following a 6-2 loss against the Colorado Rockies, closer Francisco Rodriguez was arrested for assaulting his father-in-law after the game in the clubhouse. Further complicating matters was Rodriguez injuring his thumb during the melee, ending his season.

The Lowdown:

The chaotic and chronically underachieving New York Mets had another disappointing season in 2010, finishing with their second-consecutive losing season despite having one of the larger payrolls in the game. They entered the season with a $134 million payroll, ranking fifth in MLB, and third in the National League, trailing only the Phillies and Cubs. Even though the Mets finished closer to .500 than their other disappointing NL counterpart (the Cubs), that still did not make the season any easier to swallow for Mets fans, who are growing impatient to the point to irascibility. Even though star third baseman David Wright improved greatly this year, the rest of the lineup barely carried their weight, as nobody on the team hit over .300. Also, despite receiving some pleasant surprises in their starting rotation, they unfortunately could not make up for a collectively disappointing lineup, as the team struggled to put runs on the board.

Offense:

For the second year in a row, the Mets fielded a very weak lineup overall, finishing 24^th in runs scored (656), 22^nd in batting average (.249), 25^th in on-base percentage (.314) and 24^th in home runs (128). While playing in spacious Citi Field certainly does not help matters, the team’s inability to manufacture runs had an adverse effect at home and on the road, as they only scored 322 times away from home, 22^nd in MLB. Third baseman David Wright bounced back from an absolutely awful 2009, hitting .283, with 29 home runs, 103 RBIs and even stealing 19 bases. Wright’s return to form certainly had to give Mets fans a sigh of relief, but what’s even better is that they have a potential star in the making on the other corner of the infield.

First baseman Ike Davis made his major league debut on April 19, and he quickly established himself at the position, featuring a solid glove as well as a bat. He would hit his first home run just four days later (a mammoth 450 foot blast) and would finish with a .264 average, with 19 home runs and 71 RBIs. Even though they weren’t quite Rookie of the Year-type number s, they certainly give Mets fans something to look forward to in the future, as the 23-year-old first round draft pick only looks to improve.

Other than those two, the rest of the Mets were not much to write home about. Shortstop Jose Reyes was okay, hitting .282 in 133 games, but his stolen base numbers have fallen, recording only 30 steals. Surprisingly enough, he didn’t lead the team in steals, as outfielder Angel Pagan “stole” the show with 37 steals, second in the National League to Michael Bourn’s 52. Also, the team suffered through injuries to some of their key bats, as Jason Bay and Carlos Beltran’s contributions were marginal this season. Even though injuries have played a key part in the Mets’ disappointing lineup this year, there’s really no excuses left for a team that has underachieved four years in a row.

Final Grade: C

Pitching:

The Mets’ pitching was fairly decent, finishing with a 3.70 ERA, good for seventh in MLB. This was mainly because they received help from an unlikely source. Knuckleballer R.A. Dickey had the season of his life, recording an 11-9 record with a team-best 2.84 ERA in 174.1 innings. He formed a great compliment in the rotation to staff ace Johan Santana, who also went 11-9 this year, with a 2.98 ERA and a team leading WHIP of 1.18. Righty Mike Pelfrey turned out to be the innings-eater on this staff, leading the team with 204 innings, along with a team-best 15-9 record. It may not have been flashy, but the top three starters on the Mets were pretty solid this year, keeping the team in ballgames more often than not.

The bullpen was solid for the Mets as well, finishing ninth in MLB in ERA at 3.59. The biggest workhorse in the ‘pen this year was Pedro Feliciano, who led the majors in appearances with 92. He would finish with a 3.30 ERA in those appearances, recording a team-best 23 holds along the way. Closer Francisco Rodriguez was also having a great year before his temper got the best of him, recording 25 saves, along with a 2.20 ERA, a 1.15 WHIP and fanning 67 in 57.1 innings. Other pitchers with great performances out of the ‘pen include Elmer Dessens (2.30 ERA in 53 appearances), Manny Acosta (2.95 ERA in 41 appearances), Bobby Parnell (2.83 ERA in 41 appearances) and Hisanori Takahashi, who probably had the best year of all the relievers on the team. The 35-year-old lefty would make 41 appearances in relief, recording a 2.04 ERA with a WHIP of 1.13. He was considerably more suited for the bullpen role rather than starter, as he went 4-4 with a 5.01 ERA in 12 starts this year.

In the grand scheme of things, this pitching staff wasn’t all that bad this year. In fact, they were better than I perceived them to be.

Final Grade: B

Wild Card: Stolen Bases

Despite Reyes recording only 30 steals (a far cry from his 78 in 2007), the team collectively finished with 130 steals, tops in the National League.

Final Grade: A+

Overall:

Good pitching aside, this is still a sorely disappointing team. They made a step in the right direction by firing GM Omar Minaya and replacing him with Sandy Alderson, the architect of the great Oakland A’s teams of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Although Alderson has a great pedigree, he has a considerable amount of work to do. He has to not only continue to reassemble the team to reach a competitive status again, but he also has to repair the image of the front office, one that has been portrayed as bumbling and incompetent in recent years. Although some questioned his decision of hiring the fiery Terry Collins as manager, the jury is still out on both of them to fix the team and to assuage the feelings of a beleaguered fan base.

Final Grade: C

Check back soon for the report card on the Los Angeles Dodgers!

Now presenting the next manager of the New York Mets...Terry Collins! Wait...who?

Just yesterday, the New York Mets officially announced Terry Collins as their new skipper, ending his 11 year tenure in baseball oblivion. Collins has been out of the majors for so long that many people were wondering who he was upon his hiring. Well, in brief, he was the former manager of the Houston Astros (1994-1996) and Anaheim Angels (1997-1999), and he compiled a respectable 444-434 career mark in that time period. The closest he ever came to the postseason was in 1998, when his Angels finished only three games behind the AL West Champion Texas Rangers. That's not too shabby for a managerial career that lasted all of five seasons, but why wasn't he given another shot until now?

Well, as you might have expected, there is another side to the Terry Collins story. Apparently, he wasn't well-liked among the players that he managed back in the '90s. Matt Vasgersian, the host of MLB Network's "Hot Stove" program, even went so far as to call his managing style "despotic, at worst." Former major league reliever Mitch Williams, on that very same show, said without a hint of hesitation that "he was not a very good communicator with his players" (referring to his tenure in Houston). Rave reviews, huh?

What exactly is causing all of this acrimony towards a guy who hasn't managed in the big leagues since Tiger Stadium and the Astrodome were still active ballparks? One should not have to look any further than his drama-filled tenure in Anaheim. During the 1999 season, there was a virtual coup within the Angels clubhouse, as the players petitioned then-GM Bill Bavasi to fire him. The toxic atmosphere in the clubhouse was not entirely of his making, but his managing style, described by New York Times writer David Waldstein as "intense" and "confrontational," did not earn him many supporters.

My best guess is that the reason why he went so long without a big league managing gig is probably because many people saw how his clubhouse in Anaheim unraveled, and many believed that his militaristic style wouldn't mesh well with most ballplayers. However, Collins has paid his dues in the 11 years since, as he managed the Orix Buffaloes in Japan, and the China National Team during the second World Baseball Classic. Having two overseas managing jobs certainly has to involve some sort of patience, something that Collins could have used all those years ago. He also was a minor league coordinator during that time period as well, another job that I'm sure takes a great deal of patience, as you are working with many players that are fresh out of high school or college, or even new to the United States.

The 61-year-old Collins even admitted that he has mellowed over the years during his initial press conference, and he has owned up to his mistakes in the past as a manager. Now, he faces quite possibly the biggest challenge of his career: turning the listless New York Mets into a winner. A manager who is not afraid to confront even superstar players is a refreshing thing to see in today's game. Besides, one of the reasons the Mets hired him was because of his up-tempo personality and fearlessness. However, Hall of Fame manager Tommy Lasorda once said of managing that it's like holding a dove. If you squeeze it too tightly, you will kill it; if you hold it too loose, it will fly away. In a media market that's known for scrutinizing even minor situations, Collins must be prepared to show more deftness with regard to how he handles his players and the press. Otherwise, his tenure in New York could have an uglier end than it did in Anaheim.

The 30 Day/30 Team Report Cards: Days 6 and 7- New York Mets and Arizona Diamondbacks

Welcome back once again, everybody! I want to apologize for not being on here with you yesterday; I was unfortunately tied up with a final paper that I had to turn in by today. Now that Christmas break has begun, I can be on here with you on a daily basis!

Plus, just to sweeten the deal and make up for my absence yesterday, I will offer you not one, but two report cards on two teams; the New York Mets (yesterday's team) and the Arizona Diamondbacks (today's team)! Without further adieu, let's take a look at the Mets, their record, and their team leaders in 2009:

New York Mets:
Record: 70-92 (Fourth place in the NL East, 23 games behind Philadelphia).

Batting Leaders:
Batting Average: David Wright (.307)
Home Runs: Daniel Murphy (12)
RBIs: David Wright (72)
On-base Percentage: David Wright (.390)

Pitching Leaders:
Wins: Johan Santana (13)
ERA: Johan Santana (3.13). Bullpen- Pedro Feliciano (3.03).
Strikeouts: Johan Santana (146)
Innings Pitched: Mike Pelfrey (184.1)
WHIP: Johan Santana (1.21)
Saves: Francisco Rodriguez (35)

Highlight of the Season: The grand opening of their new home, Citi Field, on April 13against the San Diego Padres. Unfortunately, for the Mets and their fans, they would lose to the Padres that night, 6-5.

Lowlight of the Season: For a season that was as bad as this, there were not too many moments that stood out. My vote would probably have to go to the game on August 23, when they lost the game on an unassisted triple play turned by Phillies second baseman Eric Bruntlett. It was only the 15th unassisted triple play in MLB history, and it was only the second to end a game (Johnny Neun did it for the Tigers in 1927).

The Lowdown:
There was nothing "amazin'" about the Mets this year, except that they were amazingly bad. However, to be fair, there was probably no other team in MLB this year that was as plagued with as many injuries as the Mets. Stars Jose Reyes, Carlos Delgado and Carlos Beltran each spent considerable amounts of time on the disabled list this year and only played in a combined 143 games. With nobody adequate enough to fill their shoes, the team wound up resembling their AAA team, the Buffalo Bisons, by the end of the year. Making matters worse was that their pitching- sans Santana- was pretty below average this year, sometimes reaching levels of downright embarrassing. Let's begin to break down the "Amazin' Mets," starting with their offense.

Offense:
Much has been made about the dimensions of their new park, Citi Field, this season. "Deep" left center is 384 feet from home plate, and "deep" right center stretches out to an ungodly 415 feet from home. However, the deep power alleys are offset by the shorter distances to "straight-away" right center and left center, which are 378 and 364 feet, respectively. Could this be the reason why the Mets offense was so lackluster, despite missing three of their big bats? They only scored 671 runs as a team this year, which was 25th in the majors. Also, because of their lack of power (or maybe the ballpark size), they were the only team in the majors last year to not reach 100 home runs, finishing with a dismal 95. Despite this, they still managed to tie for fourth place in MLB in batting average, hitting a collective .270. Looking at those stats and judging from a distance, they appear to be a team that could get base hits and get guys on, but they could not bring them around to score.

David Wright and Luis Castillo were their two best hitters average-wise in 2009, hitting .307 and .302 respectively. It was a puzzling season for Wright, who, saw his home run total drop sharply from 33 last year to just 10 this year. Although his batting average and on-base percentage were okay, one has to wonder if Citi Field is swallowing up some of his home runs. Other than that, the only other regular that hit over .280 was Fernando Tatis, who hit .282. The only person on the team who hit more than 10 home runs was Daniel Murphy, who hit 11.

This is a difficult grade to hand out, perhaps the most difficult one of them all, simply because this year's Mets lineup was not the real New York Mets. Do I give them a bad grade because they were impostors, or do I keep that grade up knowing that this isn't the true team? Since I'm in a good mood today, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.
Final Grade: C-

Pitching:
Much like Zack Greinke sums up the starting rotation in Kansas City, Johan Santana sums up the rotation for the Metropolitans. Santana was Santana this year, fashioning a 3.13 ERA in 166 innings this year. However, he would end up being shut down by the team on August 25 due to a bad elbow. Even though the team was sunk, the Mets would have likely finished with a slightly better record had he been healthy and pitching in the final month.

Once you get past Santana though, the rotation becomes a complete mess. Three of their other starters who logged at least 100 innings (Mike Pelfrey, Livan Hernandez and Tim Redding) each logged ERAs of five or higher. John Maine was putting together a decent year for the Mets, before he ended up having a date with the disabled list in June. He would not return to the rotation until September. In the end, he finished with a 7-6 record and a 4.43 ERA, which is not too shabby for a number two starter. Considering the limp-dick offense the Mets had after their "big three" went down, their weak pitching staff looks even worse when they don't get any run support.

In the 'pen, it was the Pedro Feliciano and K-Rod (Francisco Rodriguez) show for the Mets. Feliciano appeared in a whopping 88 games for the Mets this season, and he did a solid job for them, finishing with a 3.03 ERA and 59 strikeouts in 59.1 innings. The $9 million man Francisco Rodriguez put together a decent season as a closer for the Mets, finishing with 35 saves. However, his seven blown saves and his conspicuously high 3.71 ERA as a closer made his season look more pedestrian. Considering how much money the Mets are giving him over the next few years, these numbers have to improve.

Overall, the only real standouts in this staff are Santana, Feliciano, and, to a lesser extent, K-Rod. Everybody else is not worth the trouble wasting bandwidth over.
Final Grade: C-

Wild Card: Triples
I'm not sure if this is a "chicken-egg" scenario, but the Mets did finish third in MLB with 45 triples. Was it because of the ballpark dimensions, or was it because of their team speed? I'll let you be the judge.
Final Grade: B

Overall:
I'm not sure what grade I should give this team because clearly, the Mets aren't this bad when they are healthy. However, even if Beltran, Delgado and Reyes were all in the lineup, this pitching rotation is still pretty suspect once you get past Santana. Nonetheless, I will give the Mets the benefit of the doubt and spare them from getting a really bad grade.
Final Grade: C-

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It is time to leave our "Empire State of Mind" behind for the hot and dry desert of Arizona. Here are your 2009 Diamondbacks:

Arizona Diamondbacks:
Record: 70-92 (Last place in the NL West, 25 games behind Los Angeles).

Batting Leaders:
Batting Average: Justin Upton (.300)
Home Runs: Mark Reynolds (44)
RBIs: Mark Reynolds (102)
On-base Percentage: Justin Upton (.366)

Pitching Leaders:
Wins: Dan Haren (14)
ERA: Dan Haren (3.14). Bullpen- Clay Zavada (3.35).
Strikeouts: Dan Haren (223)
Innings Pitched: Dan Haren (229.1)
WHIP: Dan Haren (1.00)
Saves: Chad Qualls (24)

Highlight of the Season: The emergence of young star Justin Upton.

Lowlight of the Season: Manager Bob Melvin getting canned on May 8, with the team sitting in last place with a 12-18 record. It would only get worse from there.

The Lowdown:
If the Cleveland Indians have had the biggest fall of any team in the last two years, the Arizona Diamondbacks would have to come in at a solid number two. In 2007, the youthful Diamondbacks rolled to their first division crown in five years, and their fourth in ten seasons of existence. Not only that, but they also finished with the NL's best record that year at 90-72. Despite making easy work of the Cubs in the first round, they were swept by the white-hot Rockies in the NLCS. Even though the loss stung, things were certainly looking up for this young team, as many people thought that they had the talent to continue their success. They kept their success rolling for most of 2008 until everything fell apart for them in August and September. They have not recovered since, basically picking up where they left off in 2008 by continuing the stink-fest into 2009. Their prolonged malaise has left many Diamondbacks fans, wondering just what in the hell happened to this team? With this report card, we'll try to uncover some of the things that led to their downfall in 2009.

Offense:
From an outsider's point of view, the offense was merely average in 2009 when just looking at the stats. They finished 20th in runs scored with 720, and they managed to show off a considerable bit of power in 2009 by going deep 173 times as a team (tied for 11th with the Los Angeles Angels). However, this lineup's downfall was their tendency to be free-swingers. The D'backs paced the majors in strikeouts at the plate this year, recording 1,298 as a team. They were paced by third baseman Mark Reynolds, who struck out a major league record 223 times. The more remarkable thing is that Reynolds broke his own major league record, which he set last year by whiffing 204 times. Reynolds was not the only strikeout artist on this team though; Justin Upton and Chris Young also struck out at least 130 times each for Arizona.

For as bad as their strikeout totals were, Reynolds and Upton put together fantastic seasons at the plate in '09. The 44 home runs Reynolds hit were good enough for fourth in the majors, and the Pikeville, Kentucky native also saw his batting average increase from .239 in '08 to .260 this year. While .260 is not great, it is certainly a big improvement from .239. However, the thing that may be giving Diamonbacks fans the most excitement is the emergence of their 22-year-old star Justin Upton. In 138 games, he hit 26 home runs and drove in 86, while fashioning a solid .366 on-base percentage. He also showed off flashes of his speed once he reached base, stealing 20 of them in 2009 as well. The fact that he is 22 and he is putting up these kind of numbers is scary. He has the potential to become somebody really special.

Aside from those two, the only other real standoust I saw in the D'backs' lineup were catcher Miguel Montero and left fielder Gerardo Parra. Montero put together a solid season at the plate (for a catcher), hitting 16 home runs and driving in 59, while batting .294 in 128 games. Parra also fashioned a solid batting average himself, hitting .290 in 120 games.

Overall, this is a pretty decent lineup, one that's probably almost as good as they were in 2007. However, they have a crippling tendency to be very inconsistent, and that's only made worse by how many times they strike out.
Final Grade: C

Pitching:
Starting pitcher Dan Haren paced the staff in nearly every major statistical category for Arizona last season, as you can see in our "pitching leaders" portion of this report. His obscenely low 1.00 WHIP, led the majors. Fireballing right hander Max Scherzer also had a decent year for Arizona, going 9-11 with a 4.12 ERA in 170.1 innings. His strikeout total is worth noting, as he strikes out an average of 9.19 people per game. The white elephant in the room, however, was the absence of Brandon Webb from the rotation this season. Webb was only able to start one game during the season- April 6 against Colorado- and got slammed, giving up six earned runs in just four innings of work. The 2006 Cy Young award winner had to be placed on the DL a week later due to shoulder trouble, and would not start another game for the rest of the season because of it.

Lefty Clay Zavada was the star in Arizona's bullpen, finishing with a 3.35 ERA in 49 appearances this season. His 52 strikeouts in 51 innings were also pretty solid as well. Closer Chad Qualls also did a tip-top job, recording 24 saves in 29 chances, while walking only seven men all year in 52 innings pitched. A most impressive year for Mr. Qualls.

Collectively, Arizona's pitching staff is fairly average, but the fact that they gave up the sixth most runs of any team in baseball does not help them win any popularity contests. It also certainly does not help them win any games, either.
Final Grade: C-

Wild Card: Errors
The D'backs committed 124 of them in 2009, the second most in MLB behind Washington. It's not rocket science; if you give the opposition more opportunities to score, they'll more than likely take advantage of it.
Final Grade: D-

Overall:
After analyzing this team, I'm still a bit baffled as to why they haven't been that good since the second half of 2008 began. I guess it could start with their inconsistent, free-swinging offense, or you could point a finger at their pitching, which has been mediocre at their best (sans Haren) and bad at their worst. However, they are a staff that sorely needs their best pitcher, Brandon Webb, in order to compete. I'm giving them the grade they deserve, because they flat out underachieved this year. This team is much more talented than their 70-92 record suggests.
Final Grade: C-

Check back tomorrow for the report card on the Houston Astros!