With the 2012 major league baseball season set to begin very soon, and Sports Illustrated has their baseball preview coming out in their latest issue. The Arizona Diamondbacks are expected to do well, according to their projections in the magazine.
In the National League West, it is expected to be a battle between the Diamondbacks and the San Francisco Giants, just like a year ago. However, the Giants are expected to take the division by two games, winning 90 games.
The Diamondbacks with 88 games, will sneak into the as the second of the two wild card teams that will face off for the chance to play one of the division winners.
The Diamondbacks will beat the Miami Marlins and then will lose in the NLDS to the Philadelphia Philles.
If the season turns out like that, it will have been a very successful one.
There is a lot of optimism for the Arizona Diamondbacks this season. It looks like fans will pay attention and attend games earlier in the season than has previously been the trend. There are writers that expect them to be World Series contenders.
Naturally, they have a lot of work. It will be hard for Ian Kennedy to repeat his 2011 success, but Daniel Hudson could do better than he did. The starting pitching rotation looks to be stronger than last year's squad.
Even still, projections are projections. And most of them end up being wrong.
In the end, the games will be decided on the field. If the D-Backs can play with the same grit and determination as a season ago, they definitely have a chance.
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