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The Diamondbacks will have a new look to their rotation this year, starting at the top. Purchase your Arizona Diamondbacks Tickets. For just the second time in franchise history, Randy Johnson will not be on the mound come Opening Day. That honor will likely fall to Javier Vazquez, whom the D-Backs got from the Yankees in exchange for the Big Unit during the offseason.
Vazquez will head up a rotation that will not have the overpowering presence of Johnson, but one that should be deeper and more productive than last year's staff, thanks to Vazquez and the free agent additions of Russ Ortiz and Shawn Estes.
Those three join the lone holdover from last year's staff -- Brandon Webb -- with the fifth spot to be determined during Spring Training.
"I'm excited about it," left fielder Luis Gonzalez said of the rotation. "I'm looking forward to running out there with those guys."
Vazquez was 14-10 with a 4.91 ERA for the Yankees last year and the Diamondbacks are counting on him to be more like the pitcher he was in the first half last year -- 10-5, 3.56 ERA -- than the one he was in the second -- 4-5, 6.92 ERA.
Ortiz's four-year deal raised some eyebrows around baseball, but the Diamondbacks are quick to point out that Ortiz has been a big winner and workhorse throughout his career. The right-hander has won 14 or more games in each of the past six seasons and has thrown over 200 innings in five of those six years, going 195 2/3 in the other.
"He's one of those guys that you don't talk about him a lot, but you look at his numbers at the end of the year and he continues to go out there and win games," Gonzalez said of Ortiz.
The presence of Ortiz will slide Webb down a notch to No. 3 in the rotation. After a banner rookie season in 2003, Webb moved into the No. 2 spot after the departure of Curt Schilling and went 7-16 despite a 3.59 ERA.