NL West Teams
Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Padres, Giants and Rockies Analysis
Every NL West team but the San Francisco Giants had a winning record in 2007, which made it the best division in Major League Baseball. This season, the Arizona Diamondbacks (3 games over .500) are the lone team with a winning record entering the final month.
All of the clubs in the NL West have reasons to be optimistic and pessimistic about their futures.
Arizona Diamondbacks
Arizona started the season on a tear—no pun intended to Eric Byrnes and his hamstring problems. The young Diamondbacks hitters played well over their heads, which left many experts to predict an eventual fall. Unlike the young Tampa Bay Rays, Arizona proved the experts right. Justin Upton’s drop from All-Star caliber production to platoon level mediocrity exemplifies what happened to the Diamondbacks lineup. Due in part to injuries to OF Eric Byrnes and 2B Orlando Hudson, Arizona picked up homerun and strikeout wizard OF Adam Dunn and former World Series MVP SS David Eckstein to boost their lackluster offense.
Despite these woes, the Diamondbacks still have arguably the best double-ace combination in the majors at the top of their rotation in RHP Brandon Webb and RHP Dan Haren. The team also holds a slim lead on the Los Angeles Dodgers who are stumbling late in the season.
Los Angeles Dodgers
Heading into the 2008 season, excited Dodger fans expected new manager Joe Torre to get them back into the playoffs. Unfortunately, newly acquired high profile free agent OF Andruw Jones played himself out of the lineup, and team-crippling injuries to ace RHP Brad Penny, closer RHP Takashi Saito and leadoff extraordinaire SS Rafael Furcal among others put a stick in LA’s spokes.
On the positive side, young OF Matt Kemp has emerged as a tremendous hitter and base runner (16 homers and 32 stolen bases as of September 3) who can hit anywhere in the lineup. Furthermore, 24 year-old RHP Chad Billingsley has stepped in for the injured Penny and RHP Jason Schmidt and had a masterful season.
LA acquired future Hall of Famers OF Manny Ramirez and RHP Greg Maddux in hopes of making the 2008 Playoffs, but, even if the Dodgers fail this season, their future looks bright.
Colorado Rockies, San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres
The Rockies will not have a miraculous surge to end this season as they did in 2007. Optimists in Colorado will point to the solid season by RHP Aaron Cook and hope last year’s Rookie of the Year contender SS Troy Tulowitzki gets healthy and leads a resurgent Rockies team into 2009.
The San Francisco Giants have played better in 2008 than most experts predicted. That being said, they did not have a hitter in double digits in homeruns until August, and their lineup is arguably the feeblest in baseball. Looking forward, however, the Giants do have a young, powerful rotation with RHP Matt Cain, LHP Jonathan Sanchez and Cy Young candidate RHP Tim Lincecum.
The San Diego Padres have the second-worst record in the NL, and dwell in the cellar of the NL West heading into September this season. But, 1B Adrian Gonzalez has 28 homers and 94 RBI as of September 3, which is high for him—especially considering the weak lineup and pitcher’s park in which he plays. Plus, they do still have RHP Jake Peavy.
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