The Diamondbacks are sitting at 89-70 on the season which gives them a 1-game lead on the Padres for the N.L. West.  They also lead the Rockies by only 2 games and they open a 3-game set in Colorado tonight against a Rockies team that has won 11 games in a row!  Eric Byrnes should get a lot of MVP votes in the National League with the way he has played this season.  In 158 games, Byrnes is 178 for 619 (.288 avg, .817 OPS) with 103 runs scored, 21 homers, 83 RBIs and 49 stolen bases.  No one is more valuable to their team than Byrnes has been for the Diamondbacks.

The Arizona Diamondbacks are sitting in first place in the National League West with a 85-67 record, 1 game ahead of the Padres.  The Diamondbacks must keep playing well as the Phillies have gotten hot and they are only 2.5 games behind the Diamondbacks if the Padres overtake them in the division.  A big reason for the success of the Diamondbacks this season has been the pitching of closer Jose Valverde who has saved 45 of the Diamondbacks 85 victories (52.9%).  Valverde has worked in 62 games this season for the D-Backs and he is 1-4 with 45 saves, a 2.79 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP.  He has thrown 61.1 innings this season and he has allowed only 44 hits, walked 24 batters and whiffed 73.  The Diamondbacks knew that they would have a good starting rotation this season but Valverde and the rest of the bullpen has been a major surprise as they have saved a lot of close games because the D-Backs don’t score a lot of runs.

The Diamondbacks have lost 3B Chad Tracy for the season after he underwent surgery on his knee.  Tracy played in 76 games this season for the D-Backs and he was 60 for 227 (.264 avg, .800 OPS) with 30 runs scored, 7 homers and 35 RBIs.  This hurts the D-Backs as they are an offensively challenged team and they were hoping Tracy could give them a little boost down the stretch.  Rookie Mark Reynolds will continue to man the hot corner for the D-Backs and they need him to get hot with the bat again.  He has played in 100 games this season and he is 88 for 328 (.268 avg, .805 OPS) with 54 runs scored, 14 homers and 54 RBIs.  The D-Backs think Reynolds would be a much better hitter if he just made more contact as he has whiffed an amazing 115 times this season.

The Arizona Diamondbacks have won 7 of their last 10 games as they now sit on top of the National League West with an impressive record of 82-64.  That has them not only 2.5 games up on the Padres in the division but also 5 games up on the Phillies for the Wild Card.  The D-Backs must stay focused the last couple of weeks to get into the playoffs.

Stephen Drew came to the Diamondbacks with the reputation that he was going to be a good big league hitter like his big brother J.D. of the Red Sox.  He might still be able to achieve that goal but you wouldn’t now it based on this season.  He has really been overmatched in the 2nd half of the season.  In 54 games since the All-Star Break, Drew is 37 of 183 (.202 avg, .655 OPS) with 22 runs scored, 7 homers and 21 RBIs.  For the season, Drew has played in 136 games and he is hitting .227 (.663 OPS) with 54 runs scored, 11 homers and 50 RBIs.  The Diamondbacks expected much more out of Drew this season.