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.

The Diamondbacks are off to a 3-1 start this season as they have outscored their opponents 23-13 so far. The D-Backs are hitting .284 (.813 OPS) with 7 homers already this season as they are thumping the baseball. They are also pitching well as they have a 3.25 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP as a staff. The Diamondbacks are pitching so well because they are throwing strikes. D-Backs’ pitchers have only walked 6 batters while whiffing 35 in only 36 innings pitched showing what kind of stuff they have as a unit.

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.