Column:

Diamondbacks could be team to beat in the NL

By JJ Stankevitz

Published Sept. 2, 2008

As we head into the final month of the MLB regular season, it looks like the Chicago Cubs are the team to beat in the National League. Yes, the same Cubs that haven’t won a World Series since 1908, let alone make one since 1945. The 2008 version of the Cubs seem to have no holes, from their offense to starting pitching to bullpen. I honestly cannot find a fatal flaw in the Cubs, assuming Carlos Zambrano can regain his form that he had earlier in the year.

So why on earth do I think the Arizona Diamondbacks, a team that was just 69-65 coming into Saturday, is the team to beat in the National League?

Let’s start with the best 1-2 starting rotation punch in baseball in Brandon Webb and Dan Haren. Webb is lining up to win his second NL Cy Young Award, and Haren will be right behind him in the voting. This gives the Diamondbacks a two-headed monster not seen in baseball since 2001, when this same Arizona franchise had Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling heading a World Series-winning rotation

What this year’s Diamondbacks team has is pitching depth. While Randy Johnson isn’t the same pitcher he was seven years ago, he’s actually thrown the ball well lately, posting a 2.45 ERA in August. He’s a proven winner in the playoffs as is much of a Cub killer — he hasn’t lost to Chicago’s National League ball club in his career — as he is a dove killer. Arizona likely won’t need much out of a fourth starter with Webb/Haren/Johnson heading the rotation, but if they do, Yusmeiro Petit is a good option there

Arizona also has good depth in its bullpen, from Jon Rauch to Juan Cruz to Chad Qualls to Missouri graduate Max Scherzer. Their offense, while still rough around the edges, is essentially the same group that beat the Cubs in the 2007 National League Division Series, but with a power bat in the middle of the lineup in Adam Dunn, the only player in MLB history to ever hit a home run into another state

The Cubs better be rooting for the Los Angeles Dodgers to win the NL West, but at this point, that looks about as likely as Joe Paterno beating Mark Mangino in a sloppy joe eating contest. In fact, the Colorado Rockies could end up being the team that challenges Arizona for the division, as they seem to be primed for another late-season run. However, I think this division still goes to the Diamomdbacks, and they could wreak havoc on the National League in the playoffs

When it comes to the National League — which, let’s face it, is the far worse league in baseball — who succeeds in the playoffs is all about who gets hot at the right time. The 2007 Rockies went on a 22-1 run at the end of last year, and the 2006 Cardinals — the worst team to ever win a World Series — got hot late into September. While the Cubs are playing out of their minds right now, there’s a lot of time for that to change. The Diamondbacks, with their pitching, could be that team to get hot late in a season. And with their pitching, there won’t be a whole lot anybody can do to stop them.