Dbacks Regression or Progression: You Make the Call

Know in advance that I'm essentially an optimist if you didn't know that already so I'll be calling for more progression than regression. I'm leaving it up to everyone else to look up each player's numbers from last year so I don't have to add a bunch of stats to this article. Not everyone will be included, especially a couple of the younger guys who don't have a baseline yet. So with no further adieu, let's jump in. To save typing, progression is marked with a plus, regression with a minus, and a push gets an equal sign.

Miguel Montero =
Paul Goldschmidt +
Aaron Hill -
Martin Prado =
Jason Kubel +
Cody Ross -
Gerado Parra +
Ian Kennedy +
Wade Miley =
Trevor Cahill +
Brandon McCarthy +
Patrick Corbin +
Josh Collmenter +
J.J. Putz +
David Hernandez =
Heath Bell +
Brad Ziegler =

I only predicted regression for Aaron Hill and Cody Ross. But that doesn't mean they'll have bad years. Hill will be a tall order to actually do better than he did last year. Cody Ross is much the same. I think my biggest stretch is calling for progression from Jason Kubel. I'm counting on him playing well while avoiding the end of season collapse he had last year. I'm calling for progression from most of the pitching staff. I think Cahill has a breakout year and Kennedy pitches closer to 2011 than 2012. Miley cements his status as a B+ pitcher and does not go backwards and McCarthy stays healthy, which alone should represent progression.

I know it's a pretty optimistic list and if it all plays out that way we'll probably be division champs. One can dream right?