Breaking down the NL West
The National League West is going to be one of the most interesting divisions to watch in years. After watching the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants dominate the group throughout the last five seasons, the San Diego Padres are looking to make a push.
While Los Angeles and San Francisco remain strong, the Padres have overhauled their team more than any other this offseason. After having a historically bad lineup featuring a group of nobodies in 2014, San Diego went all-in, acquiring outfielders Wil Myers, Matt Kemp and Justin Upton along with All-Star catcher Derek Norris via trades. In addition to promising young talent such as Jedd Gyorko and Yonder Alonso, the Padres have the potential for a solid run-producing lineup even with half their games in Petco Park.
The starting rotation was also bolstered with the signing of James Shields. Shields slots in behind Andrew Cashner to form a legitimate duo, with Tyson Ross, Ian Kennedy and Brandon Morrow solidifying the back end. Should the latter three hurlers perform, San Diego is a playoff team.
While the Padres will get much of the attention, the Dodgers are still the most gifted team in the division. Even with the exodus of Kemp and Hanley Ramirez, Los Angeles still boasts Adrian Gonzalez, Joc Pederson, Yasiel Puig and newcomers Howie Kendrick and Jimmy Rollins. The starting staff is even more impressive with Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke and Hyun-Jin Ryu anchoring it.
In San Francisco, the defending World Champions are without Pablo Sandoval, who left for a lucrative deal with the Boston Red Sox. However, the Giants retained a deep starting rotation which will once again be their strength. The mileage is concerning on Tim Hudson, Matt Cain and Jake Peavy, but all three have potential for another strong campaign. Madison Bumgarner is a Cy Young candidate, giving manager Bruce Bochy a true ace.
The lineup is the main problem. Brandon Belt needs to step up, along with Casey McGahee and Nori Aoki. Without a quality 3-4 in the middle of the order, Bustey Posey could be seeing a lot of pitches outside the strike zone. Hunter Pence is a terrific player, but does not provide the power which would protect Posey.
The basement of the NL West will be a competition between the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks. Arizona has a brutal staff, potentially starting Jeremy Hellickson, Josh Collmenter and Rubby De La Rosa at the top of the rotation. In other words, expect close to 100 losses from Chip Hale’s group.
Colorado has terrific hitting led by Troy Tulowitzki, Carlos Gonzalez, Nolan Arenado and Corey Dickerson, but as usual, lacks pitching. Jorge De La Rosa is a nice middle-of-the-rotation type, but is not cutting the mustard as an ace.
