The NL West has been by far the best division in baseball this season.
Los Angeles Dodgers have the best record in the majors this season. The Colorado Rockies have one of the best offenses in the entire league. And the Arizona Diamondbacks seem to be a playoff-bound franchise thanks to their balance on their hitting and pitching. And even though the Dodgers will likely win the division, the Diamondbacks are the team to watch right now.
It only takes a look at the lineup to see they can compete with anyone when it comes to offense. Paul Goldschmidt, Ender Inciarte, A.J. Pollock, and Jake Lamb formed an impressive core. And if that wasn’t enough, Arizona added J.D. Martinez in a trade with the Detroit Tigers earlier this week. Martinez will be a huge addition to the team and not only because of his experienced bat. The veteran slugger has crushed lefties throughout his career, and he is in a division that features Kyle Freeland, Clayton Kershaw, Madison Bumgarner, and Alex Wood among others.
Furthermore, the Diamondbacks also have a solid rotation. They rank second in ERA, WHIP, HR allowed, batting average and strikeouts in the NL. They also sit sixth in walks, which show us a recipe for success: Arizona’s pitchers can punch out anyone while also limiting their free passes. The one problem is that in all the stats they rank second, they are behind the Dodgers. So they must battle the best team in baseball inside their own division. That’s tough.
Pitching-wise, one name to watch is Robbie Ray. Ray might only have a 9-4 record with a 2.97 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP, but he has pitched far better than that. He ranks fifth in ERA, third in strikeouts, and third in batting average allowed. If we look at the overall pitching stats in the NL, his name is often in between of other star pitchers such as Max Scherzer, Clayton Kershaw, Jacob deGrom, or Carlos Martinez.
Thing is – what can the Diamondbacks do? Reaching for the Division crown will be tough, so they might have to settle for a Wild Card berth. Anything can happen in a WC game. But the Diamondbacks seem well-equipped to make a deep playoff run. They have the pitching and the hitting combination that’s needed to go all the way, especially considering the NL does not look as strong as it has looked in the past.
And who knows? Maybe they can go all the way if a few breaks go their way. But the one thing that’s clear is that they have enough talent to be a must-watch ballclub in the final weeks of the season.