The Arizona Diamondbacks' 2008 season was the 11th season of the franchise in Major League Baseball. Arizona tried to defend their NL West title after winning the division the previous year. But despite a franchise-best 20-8 start in the months of March & April, they couldn't maintain the division lead late in the season and collapsed with many losing streaks and stumbled to an 82-80 record, good enough for a second-place finish, only two games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Regular season
The 2008 season saw the best start in Diamondbacks history, going 20-8 in March/April and end up being way ahead in first place in the NL West. During the great start, Brandon Webb had his best career start by winning his first 9 decisions. The only low point was that starting pitcher Doug Davis was being diagnosed with Thyroid Cancer, before he could get his first start. Characteristically, Davis made his first two scheduled starts before undergoing surgery on April 8. Fortunately, his surgery was a success and was able to get back on the mound just 6 weeks later. One of the more shining moments of April was when rookie pitcher Max Scherzer made his major league debut by pitching 4.1 perfect innings of relief, where he struck out 7 Astros. While doing this, Max passed Pete Richert of the 1962 Dodgers for the record for the number of consecutive batters retired for a pitcher making his MLB debut as a reliever. Consequently, Scherzer was immediately promoted to the starting rotation, in the absence of Davis; he was relatively effective; in his four major-league outings, Scherzer had a 2.33 ERA with 23 strikeouts in 19 innings.
May was a much different month for the D-backs. The team saw a sharp decline in hitting and run production compared to April, and was their first losing month since September 2006. The biggest disappointment had to have been the month-long slump right fielder Eric Byrnes fell into, where he hit.195 and had only 8 RBIs. Much speculation about his strained hamstring causing him to not perform well eventually led to him being put on the 15-day DL on May 27. He came back to action only to tear the left hamstring in late June, and was placed on the 60-day DL at that time. The Diamondbacks continued to lead the NL west despite only being 47-48 at the All-Star break. On July 17, 2008, Tony Clark was traded back to the D-backs from the San Diego Padres for a minor league pitcher, Evan Scribner. On August 5, Dan Haren signed a four-year, $44.75 million deal with the Diamondbacks worth a guaranteed $41.25 million through 2012 and includes a $15.5 million club option for 2013 with a $3.5 million buyout. Orlando Hudson, one of the more consistent offensive D-backs players in 2008, underwent season-ending surgery on his left wrist August 9 in the wake of a collision with catcher Brian McCann of the Atlanta Braves. Hudson became a free agent in the offseason and signed with the division rival Los Angeles Dodgers. LF Eric Byrnes has been on the 60-day disabled list since late June, with a torn left hamstring, and was not expected to return to the lineup this season. On August 11, 2008, Dallas Buck, RHP Micah Owings, and one other prospect were traded to the Reds in exchange for OF Adam Dunn. Dunn, who was tied for the major league lead with 32 home runs, was expected to provide a significant boost to an offense that has struggled to score runs for most of the season. Dunn seemed quite positive about being traded to a ballclub in first place in its division in August. The move was seen by some fans as a belated attempt by the D-backs to counter the trade by their division rival, the Los Angeles Dodgers, for Boston Red Sox power-hitting OF Manny Ramirez on July 31; and also to compensate for the injuries to Hudson and Byrnes, generally considered two of the more "power-hitting" Diamondbacks on a team which has relied heavily on pitching and defense in recent years. Owings, once considered an excellent pitching prospect for the Diamondbacks, has struggled in the 2008 campaign with a 7.09 ERA since April 21. Owings must clear waivers before being able to join the Reds, otherwise he will remain a member of the Diamondbacks through the remainder of the season. On August 31, the Diamondbacks acquired former World Series MVPDavid Eckstein to fill the hole at secondbase which was opened after Orlando Hudson was placed on the disabled list. Eckstein was traded from the Toronto Blue Jays for Minor League pitcher Chad Beck. As of September 25, the D-Backs fell out of playoff contention with a 12-3 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.
Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts
