The National League West has had a busy offseason. The San Francisco Giants had themselves yet another World Series Championship parade, the third in the past five years. The San Diego Padres probably had the most successful offseason in the National League, and the Los Angeles Dodgers are widely renowned as one of the best teams in the league. Here is how I think the West will play out over the 2015 season.
Arizona Diamondbacks
The Arizona Diamondbacks play in one of the coolest stadiums in Major League Baseball, but they just can't seem to fill it because of the product they have put on the field in the past few years. The lineup is lead by MVP candidate Paul Goldschmidt. When that guy is on, he powers the entire lineup. Mark Trumbo can just flat out mash the baseball, and AJ Pollock is one of the more exciting center fielders in the game. Those three guys absolutely have to produce at a high level for the D'Backs to have any chance of contending. The pitching staff is, how to put this nicely, suspect at best. When your number one starter headed into the season is Jeremy Hellickson, I don't have faith in your starting rotation. Josh Collmenter will get the opening day start, but past he and Hellickson, I've never heard of any of their starters. Prediction: 71-91, fifth in NL West.
Colorado Rockies
The Rockies are much like the Diamondbacks -- they've got some top end talent in the lineup with the ability to produce some runs, but the pitching staff is put together with Elmer's Glue and Scotch tape. As I said, the lineup has top end talent in Charlie Blackmon, Carlos Gonzalez, Troy Tulowitzki, and Justin Morneau. CarGo and Tulo, when healthy, are perennial All-Stars and among the best in the game. The 2014 NL batting champ, Justin Morneau, will look to repeat his stellar year, and Charlie Blackmon will lead it all off and look to set the plate for the three guys after him. As I said earlier, the Rockies pitching staff is, in a word, bad. Jorge De La Rosa is the number one starter. Yikes. Pitchers that cannot make people swing and miss or pound the ball into the ground in Colorado are destined to fail -- plain and simple. It is going to be yet another tough year in Denver. Prediction: 73-89, fourth in NL West.
Los Angeles Dodgers
As I've mentioned in previous articles, I am a huge Cardinals fan, so I've got mixed feelings about the Dodgers organization. I will try to write this as unbiased as I possibly can. The Dodgers have some of the best top end talent in baseball, no doubt about it. Yasiel Puig, who is arguably the most exciting player in baseball, leads the way, backed up by Adrian Gonzalez, who has driven in 100 runs in seven of the last eight years, missing the eighth season by one RBI. New acquisitions, Jimmy Rollins and Howie Kendrick, will also play a big role in the lineup, with Rollins hitting leadoff, and Kendrick likely following Gonzalez. To talk about the Dodgers pitching staff without first mentioning Clayton Kershaw is nothing short of blasphemy. The guy is just flat out the best pitcher on planet Earth, and it's not even close. The 2014 Cy Young and NL MVP winner is virtually unhittable when he is on, and even when he's not on his best game he can beat many Major League lineups. Kershaw is so good, the Dodgers number two starter, Zach Greinke -- who is 32-12 over the past two years -- is generally not talked about. Not to mention Hyun-Jin Ryu, who might be the best number three starter in the game today. Prediction: 92-70, first in NL West.
San Diego Padres
The Padres were the most active team in the National League this offseason, making a complete roster overhaul that may finally put a good or great team on the field in San Diego. A completely new outfield made up of Justin Upton, Matt Kemp and Wil Myers headline the busy offseason. Those three will look to solidify a lineup that was, and this is putting this lightly, pretty terrible last year. One position battle to watch will be the one at third base. Yangervis Solarte is a bright up and coming talent and gives the Pads a legitimate leadoff hitter, but Will Middlebrooks has proven himself as a productive major league ballplayer. Cameron Maybin is the best bench player in the league, who is getting the short end of the stick with all the new acquisitions. The pitching staff also got an overhaul with the much-needed acquisition of James Shields as a front line starter with postseason experience. Andrew Cashner had a breakout season last year, and will look to build on that this year. If not for the pair up in LA, I would probably give the “best 1-2 starter punch" award to San Diego, but come on, it's Kershaw and Greinke. Prediction: 89-73, second in NL West; first NL Wild Card.
San Francisco Giants
Last year was an even number, so the Giants won a World Series. I have tried to wrap my mind around why this happens, but there are no explanations. As the pattern goes, however, the Giants will miss the playoffs this year. With the loss of Pablo Sandoval, the lineup will rely on MVP candidate Buster Posey and Brandon Belt. An unfortunate HBP in spring training has sidelined Hunter Pence for the first couple of months of the season, but after he returns, he will look to take the heat off of the middle of the order. Madison Bumgarner leads the pitching staff after an absolutely magical postseason. After Bumgarner, the starting rotation has a slight drop off, coming at teams in the National League with Matt Cain, Jake Peavy, Auburn's own Tim Hudson, and Big Time Timmy Jim, Tim Lincecum. Prediction: 81-81, third in NL West.
Playoff predictions
National League Wild Card Game: Padres over Marlins.
National League Division Series: Nationals over Dodgers; Cardinals over Padres.
National League Championship Series: Cardinals over Nationals.
