53-year old manager Kirk Gibson has surrounded himself with a very accomplished coaching staff for 2011 and the hope is that Diamondbacks respond to their new direction. The Diamondbacks were 34-49 (41%) under Gibson last year. Losing Mark Reynolds and Adam LaRoche is going to hurt the offense, so the D-Backs are likely going to have to scratch for every run they get in 2011. The starting rotation looks strong but the bullpen is iffy. No one played harder than Kirk Gibson, and the D-Backs hope that his toughness rubs off on his players in 2011.

One of the first things that new G.M. Kevin Towers did when he took over was to attempt to rebuild the D-Backs’ bullpen for 2011. 34-year old righty closer J.J. Putz will give the D-Backs a big time guy to protect leads at the end of games in 2011. Putz pitched in 60 games (0 starts) for the White Sox last year and he was 7-5 with 3 saves, a 2.83 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP. He only gave up 41 hits in 54 innings last year while whiffing 65 batters as he was downright nasty. Putz has now pitched in 397 games (0 starts) in his first 8 years in the majors and he is 30-24 with 106 saves, a 3.19 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP.

25-year old righty David Hernandez was part of the haul the D-Backs got back for Mark Reynolds over the winter. He will likely be the D-Backs’ top set-up man in 2011. Hernandez pitched in 41 games (8 starts) for the Diamondbacks in 2011 and he was 8-8 with 2 saves, a 4.31 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP. He has now pitched in 61 games (27 starts) in his first two years in the majors and he is 12-18 with 2 saves, a 4.93 ERA and a 1.54 WHIP. Hernandez was much better for the Orioles last year when they moved him to the bullpen and the D-Backs are banking on him repeating that success in 2011.

27-year old righty Juan Gutierrez will be bumped to a middle reliever role in 2011. He pitched in 58 games (0 starts) for the Diamondbacks last year and he was 0-6 with 15 saves, a 5.08 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. Gutierrez has now pitched in 123 games (0 starts) in his first two years with the D-Backs and he is 4-9 with 24 saves, a 4.51 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP.

26-year old righty reliever Kam Mickolio is the Diamondbacks’ #17 prospect heading into this year according to Baseball America. Mickolio came over from Baltimore in the Mark Reynolds deal over the winter. He pitched in 5 games (0 starts) for the Orioles last year and he was 0-0 with a 7.36 ERA and a 2.18 WHIP. Mickolio has now pitched in 23 games (0 starts) in his first three years in the majors and he is 0-3 with a 4.32 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP. He has 26 whiffs in only 25 innings in his major league career, which shows how good his stuff is. But, he has also walked 14 batters so far and that’s way too many.

36-year old righty Brian Sweeney pitched in 24 games (0 starts) for the Mariners last year and he was 1-2 with a 3.16 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP. He has now pitched in 73 games (2 starts) in his first four years in the majors and he is 4-2 with 2 saves, a 3.38 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP. Sweeney might work his way into a middle reliever in the D-Backs’ bullpen in 2011.

25-year old righty Sam Demel might help out the D-Backs in 2011. Demel pitched in 37 games (0 starts) for the D-Backs last year and he was 2-1 with a 5.35 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP. He also pitched in 22 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball last year and he was 2-0 with 6 saves, a 1.26 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP. The Diamondbacks are hoping that Demel will be much better for them in 2011.

26-year old lefty Clay Zavada had Tommy John Surgery last year which helps explain how poorly he pitched in AAA-ball last year. Zavada pitched in 5 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball last year and he was 0-1 with a 30.00 ERA and a 5.33 WHIP. He gave up 6 hits and he walked 10 batters in only 3 innings in the minors last year. Zavada did look good in 2009 for the D-Backs when he pitched in 49 games (0 starts) in which he was 3-3 with a 3.35 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP. The Diamondbacks hope that Zavada can return to form in 2011.

26-year old lefty Zach Kroenke will battle Zavada for a job in the pen. Kroenke pitched in 3 games (1 start) for the Diamondbacks last year and he was 1-0 with a 6.75 ERA and a 1.95 WHIP. He also pitched in 40 games (9 starts) in AAA-ball last year and he was 7-3 with 2 saves, a 3.51 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP. The D-Backs hope that Kroenke will be a late bloomer.

26-year old righty Rafael Rodriguez pitched in 2 games (0 starts) for the D-Backs last year and he was 0-0 with a 6.75 ERA and a 1.88 WHIP. He has now pitched in 21 games (0 starts) in his first two years in the show and he is 0-1 with a 5.60 ERA and a 1.81 WHIP. He is going to have to start missing more bats if the D-Backs are going to give him a legit audition in 2011 as he has given up 52 hits in only 35 1/3 innings so far in his major league career.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE DIAMONDBACKS BULLPEN IN 2011: C

26-year old righty reliever Carlos Rosa declined a minor league assignment so that he could sign with the team in Japan. Rosa pitched in 22 games (0 starts) for the D-Backs last year and he was 0-2 with a 4.50 ERA and a 1.60 WHIP. He also pitched in 31 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball last year and he was 2-1 with 13 saves, a 2.25 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP. The Diamondbacks would have likely wanted to keep Rosa, but they just couldn’t convince him to stay.

The Diamondbacks have played 26-year old switch hitting infielder Tony Abreu on waivers. Abreu played in 81 games for the D-Backs last year and he was 45 of 193 (.233 avg, .560 OPS) with 16 runs scored, 1 homer, 13 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. He had a strong spring for the D-Backs as he played in 25 games in which he was 19 of 54 (.352 avg, .898 OPS) with 8 runs scored, 1 homer, 8 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Due to his hot spring, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone claims him off waivers.

Veteran lefty Mike Hampton has decided to hang up his cleats and call it a career. He pitched in 9 games (0 starts) this spring for the D-Backs and he was 0-1 with a 11.17 ERA and a 2.69 WHIP. Hampton gave up 18 hits and he walked 8 batters in only 9 2/3 innings which shows that he really doesn’t have it anymore.