1. Diamondbacks
-Season story lines: The Diamondbacks, who ran away with the NL West last year as baseball’s biggest surprise, made substantial improvements in hopes of going deeper into the postseason. But some plans might be scrapped. Their 3-4-5 starters of Trevor Cahill, Josh Collmenter and Joe Saunders struggled this spring. If that continues, it might force them to accelerate the promotion of prized prospects such as Patrick Corbin, Tyler Skaggs and Trevor Bauer. They also planned to have Gerardo Parra as their fourth outfielder after signing former Minnesota Twins slugger Jason Kubel to a two-year, $15 million deal, but Parra has been their best outfielder this spring. Arizona patiently awaits the return of shortstop Stephen Drew from knee surgery and must rely on Willie Bloomquist for now.
-Season stat: 48. The Diamondbacks led the major leagues with 48 comeback victories and were 84-0 when leading after eight innings. Can they possibly rely on the same lateinning magic of a year ago, or will the odds catch up with them?
-Sco-ts’ take: They’ve looked sluggish all spring. Their starting pitching looks like a mess. Cahill looks like he’s throwing (batting practice) out there; his ball isn’t sinking at all. He was supposed to be a No. 2 starter but looks no better than a No. 4, and that’s being nice. I’m not sure Collmenter would make hardly anyone else’s rotation. His velocity is just 86 to 88 mph. . . . They have some nice pitching depth, and Skaggs looks like he’s close to ready. They have some nice outfielders on the way, too, with A.J. Pollock and Adam Eaton.