D-backs’ Upton: ‘We did nothing but get better’

The Arizona Diamondbacks won the NL West in 2011 with a
roster made up of few stars.

After all, for every Justin Upton and Miguel Montero there
was a Ryan Roberts and Gerardo Parra. For every Ian
Kennedy there was a Josh Collmenter.

In short, the 2011 Arizona Diamondbacks did not have the
look of a great team on paper. But that’s why they play
the games, and now possessing the cache that comes
with being a division champ, the team returns in-tact —
maybe even upgraded — looking to repeat last year’s magic
and repeat as division champs.

“We did nothing but get better,” outfielder Justin Upton
told Arizona Sports 620’s Burns and Gambo Saturday at
FanFest.

Upton mentioned the additions of Trevor Cahill, Takashi
Saito and Jason Kubel as important new additions, but was
equally pleased with who’s coming back.

“It’s hard to break up a team that gelled that well
together,” Upton said. “We were about as tight-knit as a
team as you could get last year and that’s something that
you don’t want to break up.

“For us to bring everybody back and then jump right back
in where we were last year as a team is going to be fun.”

Winning is fun, so it’s no wonder Upton has fond memories
of last season’s group. Though there are high expectations
heading into this season, there’s no reason to think the
D-backs can’t handle it.

After all, this roster has done it before.

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