The National League West has produced a different division winner in each of the last three years. In 2011, the Diamondbacks won the crown, while 2012 and 2013 belonged to the Giants and Dodgers respectively.
The Dodgers have the highest payroll in the history of baseball, but the Diamondbacks and Giants will do everything in their power to prevent them from winning back-to-back crowns.
In addition, do not sleep on the Rockies and Padres as both teams are stacked with talent. This could be a great race all the way until October.
So, who wins the NL West in 2014?
San Diego Padres
The Padres have only scored 40 runs so far this season in 14 games, that will not get the job done. But on the bright side, they have only allowed 49 runs, so at least the pitching and defense has been good so far.
San Diego’s lineup only has two players hitting over .300 with Everth Cabrera and Yasmani Grandal hitting .340 and .333 respectively. The Padres will need players like Yonder Alonso, Jedd Gyorko, Chase Headley and Will Venable to start hitting consistently to have a shot at winning the National League West.
The bright side of the Padres season so far has been the pitching. The team’s ERA as a whole is a terrific 3.02 and the staff is led by ace Andrew Cashner, who is off to a hot start with 21 innings pitched and just three earned runs allowed. The Padres rotation also included Tyson Ross, Ian Kennedy, Eric Stults and Robbie Erlin. It’s a good enough to compete, but the back end of the bullpen is what will carry this pitching staff. So far this season, the Padres’ bullpen has allowed just eight earned runs in 36.1 innings. For those who are doing that math, that comes out to a 1.98 ERA.
Arizona Diamondbacks
With the Arizona Cardinals, Phoenix Coyotes and the Phoenix Suns just missing the playoffs, fans in the desert will be relying on the Diamondbacks to bring them happiness in sports. But so far, the Diamondbacks have been the worst team in Arizona.
The Diamondbacks lineup has been fine so far in this young season, and is not the reason why the team has only won four games. Arizona is eighth in the majors in runs scored, mostly due to the dominance of Paul Goldschmidt and Mark Trumbo, who have already combined for 27 runs batted in. The Diamondbacks lineup also features Gerardo Parra, Miguel Montero and Chris Owings, the latter of whom has been impressive so far this season.
The issue with the Diamondbacks is the starting rotation. To say they have been mediocre is kind.
The starting rotation has two quality starts in 17 games. Two games of six innings and three earned runs or less. That is not getting the job done for the Arizona faithful. The top four starters have allowed 63 earned runs in 14 games started, for an ERA of well over six. Wade Miley is the official ERA leader on the Diamondbacks staff with a 5.04. It does not look good in Arizona, as the team ERA is 6.14 at the moment.
Colorado Rockies
The Colorado Rockies need to be healthy to contend, plain and simple. Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez have been injured far too much for the Rockies to be a contender. But this year, can they stay healthy?
The Rockies can just flat out rake. So far this year they are first in batting average, third in runs scored and second in slugging percentage. That is astronomical for a National League team. The Rockies are led by their two superstars in Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez who have scored 20 runs between the two of them. But contributions from Charlie Blackmon (.468 batting average) and Michael Cuddyer (.340 with 10 runs batted in) are what has fueled the Rockies hot start.
The downfall of the 2014 Rockies would be the rotation if they cannot win the division. Without a pure “ace” on the staff, the Rockies will try to string together some winning streaks throughout the season with Juan Nicasio, Brett Anderson, Jordan Lyles, Jorge De La Rosa and when healthy, Jhoulys Chacin.
San Francisco Giants
The Giants have Hunter Pence, Buster Posey and Pablo Sandoval in their lineup nearly every single day. That bodes well for the Giants’ offense as a whole, but so far San Francisco has been led by Brandon Belt and Angel Pagan. Belt is among the leading home run hitters so far with five and Angel Pagan is hitting .386. Adding those two to an already stacked middle of the order and the Giants offense is as good as it has been in a long time.
The strength of the Giants for the last few years has always been pitching, but is that still the case? With names like Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner, and Tim Hudson you would like to think so. The problem is, Cain and Lincecum have not been “themselves” of late. So far this season they have allowed 20 earned runs in 33 innings. Now, it is a small sample size, but last season Matt Cain had a 4.00 ERA and Lincecum posted a 4.37 ERA, so their struggles are warranted.
Los Angeles Dodgers
Los Angeles’ rotation features Zack Greinke, Josh Beckett, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Dan Haren and the best left-handed pitcher in the game in Clayton Kershaw. But, Kershaw has been hurt for a few weeks and will not start again until late April at the earliest. He will be back for the long run, and with Greinke and Ryu, the Dodgers’ top three starters are among baseball’s best.
Who wins the NL West?
Photo: Jayne Kamin-Oncea, USA Today Sports Images