A veteran major-league scout opens his book on the Diamondbacks:
“The Diamondbacks are a young, very aggressive team. Eric Byrnes sets the tone. Look for them to strike out a lot, like they did during the regular season.”
Key player: “Byrnes. If you keep him off the bases, you cut down on the team’s enthusiasm. They feed off his enthusiasm. The Cubs should throw him a lot of breaking balls and change speeds. In a series like this, a hyper nature seems to work against people.”
Key starting pitcher: “I have not seen [Brandon Webb] at any time look like a guy who won a Cy Young Award last year and might be close this year. I have seen a guy with a long arm action who throws a lot of high sinkers. That plays right into the hands of Derrek Lee and [Aramis] Ramirez and [Alfonso] Soriano. He throws 85 percent sinkers.”
The closer: “[Jose] Valverde is overhyper, and that can work against him. The secret is to make him throw a lot of pitches.”
The crowd: “It won’t make a difference [in Phoenix]. The Cubs bring out people here. I don’t think there will be any home-field advantage in Arizona.”
