Inside the NL | D'backs must rebound quickly from slow opening week

    Last April, the Arizona Diamondbacks were the best team in baseball, racing out to a remarkable 20-8 start and giving themselves an early five-game cushion on their NL West rivals. With their aces Brandon Webb and Dan Haren dealing and their then-20-year-old prodigy Justin Upton playing far beyond his years, the Snakes were almost a lock to reach the postseason. Little did we know that the key word in that last sentence would be "almost." 
    Over the remainder of the season, Bob Melvin's team amassed a disappointing 62-72 mark, and the Diamondbacks eventually missed the playoffs by two games. Upton, who began the year with a torrid .340/.385/.577 line and five homers in 97 April at-bats, receded rapidly, finishing the year with a mediocre .250 batting average and only 15 total taters. Many of the outfielder's youthful teammates followed suit, and even with Webb and Haren contending for the NL Cy Young award, the D'backs simply couldn't stay afloat.
    This winter, the Diamondbacks lost Orlando Hudson, Adam Dunn and Randy Johnson to free agency; GM Josh Byrnes replaced Hudson with Felipe Lopez and Johnson with Jon Garland, while pinning his hopes on Eric Byrnes' successful recovery from torn hamstrings. Clearly, no significant improvements were made to the Arizona roster, with the team's financially strapped management instead hoping that the maturation of youngsters like Stephen Drew and Chris Young at the plate, plus Max Scherzer on the mound, would lift them to the top of the division.  
    Unfortunately, the Diamondbacks have not slithered away from the competition to start the 2009 season and are instead mired in the NL West cellar with a 2-5 record after one week of play. They were defeated twice in three games in both of their opening series, first by the Colorado Rockies and then by the Los Angeles Dodgers. Brandon Webb is on the 15-day disabled list with an ailing right shoulder, and Dan Haren has already been tagged with two tough-luck losses. Their top young hitters are either at or below the Mendoza line, with Upton yet to collect his first knock of the year. Put all of that together, and it's not hard to see why the Diamondbacks have been outscored 40-24 in their first seven games.
    Obviously, there is ample time for the Snakes to turn things around, but their schedule dictates that this must happen immediately. Major League Baseball's scheduling gods dealt the Diamondbacks an agenda that has them playing 18 of their first 21 games in the friendly confines of Chase Field. They've already wasted a third of those contests with a miserable first week, and recent history dictates that such a trend cannot continue. In particular, the D'backs were a stellar 48-33 at their home ballpark last season but managed only a 34-47 mark on the road. They won't have the luxury of playing in Phoenix for most of May and June, so ending April at or near the top of the division is critical.
    Righting the ship certainly won't be easy, especially with Webb on the shelf for at least the next two weeks, but Arizona's opponents for the rest of the month are manageable. Bob Melvin's squad will host the St. Louis Cardinals and then make a quick weekend trip up to play the San Francisco Giants before returning home to play the Rockies, Giants and Chicago Cubs, with off-days comfortably placed on the 16th and 23rd. A team could not have asked for a much better opening slate, but the Diamondbacks have yet to take advantage of it.
     Beyond the cushy schedule, there are plenty of other reasons for the Chase Field faithful to keep hope alive in the face of a rocky first week. Promising young starter Scherzer will make his 2009 debut on Tuesday after compiling a solid 3.05 ERA and 66/21 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 56 innings during his rookie year. The young bats of Drew, Young, Upton and Conor Jackson have far too much potential to stay cold for long. And it's hard to imagine Dan Haren staying winless if he maintains the tidy 2.08 ERA and 0.77 WHIP that gave the D'backs a great chance to emerge victorious in his first two starts.
    But with all of that said, the burden falls on the players' shoulders, and they must show that they can contend with the Dodgers, Giants and Rockies over the coming two weeks. The NL West is full of teams with fatal flaws and could be won with a .500 record, so it's nowhere near time for the Diamondbacks to concede defeat.
It is time, however, for the young Snakes to step up to the challenge.