The NL West must be one of the easiest divisions to predict ahead of the 2017 MLB season.
We know Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants will battle for the top spot and one of the two NL Wild Card spots. And we also know the Arizona Diamondbacks and the San Diego Padres are just not good enough to compete with them, or at least yet. However, one team that could turn quite a few heads is the Colorado Rockies.
Colorado added Ian Desmond during the offseason, and even though he will start the season on the DL with an injury sustained this week, he should add a potent bat. And it’s not like the Rockies are lacking offense. They have a perennial MVP candidate in Nolan Arenado, and there’s also Carlos Gonzalez, Trevor Story and DJ LeMahieu. If there’s one thing the Rockies will do is to score runs, especially considering they play 81 games on the altitude of Coors Field.
The Rockies might have enough in them to battle for a NL Wild Card spot if everything goes right for them, but we know the Dodgers and the Giants will battle for the division crown. After all, both teams made the playoffs last season, and both were pretty close to eliminate the Chicago Cubs.
All things considered, however, the Dodgers might have the edge to capture the NL West title. Their offense is absolutely loaded, and they have one of the top young players in the game in Corey Seager. I mean, there’s a reason why the shortstop finished his rookie as third in the NL MVP voting.
Aside from Seager, there’s Adrian Gonzalez, Joc Pederson, Justin Turner and Yasmani Grandal. Yasiel Puig is an enigma, but he showed signs of turning things around last season. And Logan Forsythe could be one of the most underrated additions in the NL this year. He should have a great year while manning second for Los Angeles.
And what’s even more crazy is that we haven’t even discussed the Dodgers’ rotation yet. Obviously they have Clayton Kershaw ,who is one of the best in the game. But Rich Hill is coming off a bounce-back year, and Kenta Maeda made strides last year as a rookie. That’s a pretty good start, but there’s more.
Julio Urias should be much improved in his second year. Scott Kazmir and Brandon McCarthy are two experienced arms. And we haven’t even mentioned Alex Wood or Hyun-Jin Ryu. Both pitchers are coming off injury-plagued seasons, and at the very least they should be options to compete for a spot down the road.
In terms of the bullpen, Kenley Jansen returned as the closer. That should say it all. There’s no question the Dodgers start the season as one of the favorites not only to win the NL West, but to reach the World Series in the NL.
Don’t sleep on the Giants, though.
The Dodgers’ rotation is deep, but San Francisco’s one is even better. I mean, who could argue that the top four of Madison Bumgarner, Johnny Cueto, Jeff Samardzija and Matt Moore is one of the top groups in all of baseball? They certainly look like one of the strongest rotations in the NL, and we know you can never have too much pitching. The bullpen is somewhat of a question mark, but the arrival of Mark Melancon as a closer should solidify things for San Francisco.
However, the main reason why the Dodgers look like a better team than the Giants is San Francisco’s offense. Sure, Buster Posey is one of the most productive catchers in baseball. And the middle infield duo of Brandon Crawford and Joe Panik should be extremely productive. But Brandon Belt will have to repeat what he did last season, and Eduardo Nunez is quite a question mark at the hot corner. Things get worse in the outfield, however. Jarrett Parker, Denard Span and Hunter Pence isn’t exactly a sexy group of outfielders. Certainly not one that have the looks of a contending team.
We have mentioned the Dodgers, the Giants, and the Rockies. But what about the Padres and the Diamondbacks?
Easy. The Diamondbacks have a few quality players – Zach Greinke leads the rotation while Paul Goldschmidt and Yasmany Tomas lead the offense – but that might not be enough to compete. A return to form of Shelby Miller would certainly help, but let’s face it. The Diamondbacks are not going to be a threat in this division.
Same goes with the Padres. San Diego is likely the worst team in baseball at the moment. You could blame the front office or the lack of talent in the roster. But there’s no doubt they are an absolute mess. They would be lucky if they don’t lose 100 games, but even that bet seems risky. That’s how bad they are.