"First and foremost the Diamondbacks have a pretty good nucleus of starting pitching," ESPN MLB analyst Aaron Boone told Arizona Sports 620's Doug and Wolf Tuesday when asked if the D-backs could win as presently constrcuted. "They have a chance to pitch."

Ian Kennedy, Wade Miley, Brandon McCarthy and Trevor Cahill will be part of the rotation, with Tyler Skaggs, Patrick Corbin and Randall Delgado vying for the fifth spot. Following them, Arizona's bullpen figures to be quite good, too.

The team will need it.

Boone pointed to the improvements made by the Los Angeles Dodgers and the reigning world champion San Francisco Giants -- along with a San Diego Padres team he believes will surprise people -- as reasons for why the NL West will be a difficult division.

But while many point to the losses of players like Justin Upton and Chris Young as reason for why the offense may take a hit, the team's ability to limit the hits opponents get may keep them in most games.

"But the Diamondbacks have good, solid every day players and a chance, in their rotation, to compete with the upper echelon teams," Boone said. "So I think they're a classic case of if things break right for them they have a chance in the National League West."