Not many “experts” thought the Diamondbacks would be a contender in the N.L. West but they have been exactly that the whole first half. The Diamondbacks are 49-43 on the season which has them in second place in the N.L. West, 3 games behind the Giants. The D-Backs are also 5 games behind the Braves in the Wild Card race. The Diamondbacks will likely be on the hunt for bullpen help and a 1B at the trade deadline later this month. Here is a look at the players who made the biggest impact in the first half of the 2011 season:

Team MVP: 23-year old righty swinging RF Justin Upton has really stepped up this season for the D-Backs. Upton has played in 91 games so far this year and he is 102 for 348 (.293 avg, .881 OPS) with 56 runs scored, 15 homers, 46 RBIs and 14 stolen bases. With a strong second half, Upton could be a 30/30 man for the D-Backs in 2011.

Biggest Surprise: 30-year old righty swinging 3B Ryan Roberts and 25-year old rookie righty starting pitcher Josh Collmenter would have to tie for this honor. Roberts came literally out of nowhere to win the starting 3B job for the D-Backs. Roberts has played in 80 games for the Diamondbacks so far this year and he is 69 for 269 (.257 avg, .779 OPS) with 47 runs scored, 11 homers, 37 RBIs and 13 stolen bases. Josh Collmenter wasn’t even really considered for a job on the pitching staff in spring training. But, due to injuries and poor performance of pitchers ahead of him, Collmenter has had a big role on the pitching staff. He has pitched in 18 games (11 starts) for the D-Backs so far this year and he is 4-5 with a 2.92 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. He has been aggressive in the strike zone as he only has allowed 61 hits while walking 16 batters in his first 77 innings in the major leagues.

Biggest Disappointment: 25-year righty starting pitcher Barry Enright and 29-year old righty starting pitcher Armando Galarraga were supposed to fill up the back end of the starting rotation for the D-Backs but they are both pitching in AAA right now. Enright has pitched in 6 games (all starts) for the Diamondbacks so far this year and he is 1-3 with a 6.49 ERA and a 1.67 WHIP. Galarraga has pitched in 8 games (all starts) for the D-Backs so far this year and he is 3-4 with a 5.91 ERA and a 1.62 WHIP. These guys could both be used as trade chips later this month.

The Arizona Diamondbacks split two games with the Rockies in Denver over the weekend as they were snowed out on Sunday. The only thing that really stood out to me over the weekend was the new look bullpen the D-Backs have for 2011. They were a combined 1-0 with 1 save, a 0.00 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP. The Diamondbacks’ bullpen was also showing off pretty strong arms as they had 9 whiffs in only 7 innings pitched. The D-Backs have a solid starting rotation, so if the bullpen keeps pitching well, they might surprise some teams in the N.L. West.

The Diamondbacks finished the first half of the 2010 season with a 34-55 record which has them in last place in the N.L West, 17.5 games behind the Padres. Not everything has went bad for the Diamondbacks so here’s a closer look at both the surprises and disappointments so far:

Pleasant Surprises: The D-Backs knew when they signed 30-year old lefty swinging 1B Adam LaRoche that he was a second half player. But he has played well for them in 2010. LaRoche has played in 82 games for the D-Backs this year and he is 75 of 296 (.253 avg, .787 OPS) with 44 runs scored, 13 homers and 55 RBIs. 28-year old lefty swinging 2B Kelly Johnson has really bounced back this season for the D-Backs. Johnson has played in 83 games for the D-Backs this year and he is 86 of 312 (.276 avg, .870 OPS) with 52 runs scored, 14 homers, 43 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. 26-year old righty swinging CF Chris Young was awful in 2009 for the D-Backs but he has rebounded nicely in 2010. Young has played in 86 games for the D-Backs this season and he is 85 of 320 (.266 avg, .798 OPS) with 48 runs scored, 15 homers, 61 RBIs and 17 stolen bases. Despite his record this season, 25-year old righty Ian Kennedy has been the best starting pitcher for the D-Backs. Kennedy has started 18 games for the D-Backs this year and he is 4-7 with a 4.12 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP.

Disappointments: Where to start here? I will pick on 31-year old righty reliever Chad Qualls who started 2009 as the D-Backs’ closer. He lost that job. Qualls has pitched in 37 games (0 starts) for the D-Backs this year and he is 1-4 with 12 saves, a 8.60 ERA and a 2.11 WHIP. He has given up a whopping 52 hits in only 30 1/3 innings this year. 36-year old righty reliever Bobby Howry was so bad the D-Backs cut him really early in the year. He’s now pitching decent ball for the Cubs while the D-Backs are paying him. Howry pitched in 14 games (0 starts) for the D-Backs this season and he was 1-0 with a 10.67 ERA and a 1.67 WHIP. He gave up a whopping 6 homers in only 14 1/3 innings for the D-Backs. 26-year old righty reliever Juan Gutierrez started this season as the set-up man but he isn’t working in that role anymore and for good reason. Gutierrez has pitched in 33 games (0 starts) for the D-Backs this year and he is 0-5 with 2 saves, a 6.96 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP. 28-year old righty swinging LF/1B Conor Jackson was traded to the A’s earlier this year but he didn’t play too well for the D-Backs anyway. Jackson played in 42 games for the D-Backs this year and he was 36 of 151 (.238 avg, .657 OPS) with 19 runs scored, 1 homer, 11 RBIs and 4 stolen bases.

The D-Backs have lost 4 games in a row (getting swept by the Padres over the weekend) and they are now in last place in the N.L. West with a 5-7 record. The Diamondbacks have outscored the opposition 66-63 this season so pitching has been a problem for them. The have six home games this week which would usually be good news but 3 of them are against the Phillies followed by 3 games against the Cardinals.

The Arizona D-Backs are off to a good start to the 2010 season. They are 4-2 on the season as they have outscored the competition 41-25 so far. They have done that by whacking 12 homers already this season. They start a three game series in L.A. against the Dodgers tomorrow and they then travel to San Diego for the weekend. It will be interesting to see how well the D-Backs do against their N.L. West rivals this week.