Division Preview and Predictions: NL West
After looking at the American League this past weekend and on Monday, I will now switch gears over to the National League and provide my predictions for the NL West. The NL West looks to be another exciting division and could even rank above the AL East, in terms of every team besides one, being competitive in 2017 and running for the NL West Championship.
Here is a look ahead towards what each team in the division can look forward to in 2017 in order of how I expect the division to look.
1. San Francisco Giants (NL West Champions) - Going into this winter, the Giants biggest hole was at the back end of their bullpen with the closer role. San Francisco quickly filled that void by signing Mark Melancon and will benefit tremendously from having him at the back end to go along with George Kontos, Hunter Strickland, and Derek Law. In addition to having Melancon, the Giants possess three tremendous studs in their rotation with Madison Bumgarner, Johnny Cueto, and Jeff Samrdzija. All three of those pitchers have experience pitching in the postseason and are considered innings eaters which is vital for a team like the Giants to have success. After Samardzija, things get a bit dicey as Matt Cain is currently slated to be the team's 4th starter and Ty Blach along with Albert Suarez are options for the 5th spot. On the offensive side of things, San Francisco seems set especially now that they have added Nick Hundley for more depth behind the plate. That move allows Bruce Bochy to be able to play Buster Posey at first base, Brandon Belt out in left field if Mac Williamson or Jarrett Parker aren't producing, and have Hundley catch the game. The Giants offense ranked 19th in the league last season with 715 runs scored in 5,565 at bats, but should do better this season with good health from impact players. Don't be surprised if the Giants win the division, but it certainly won't be in landslide style like in year's past and will go down to the wire.
2. Los Angeles Dodgers (NL Wild Card 1) - Although some might disagree with San Francisco winning the division and would put Los Angeles in that position, I truly believe that there might be some health problems that present themselves throughout the course of the 2017 season for the Dodgers. With that said, the team still has a much improved bullpen, which was able to hang onto their household closer, Kenly Jansen, and have plenty of outfield depth. In addition, the Dodgers were able to resign third baseman, Justin Turner, who was an offensive beast for them last season hitting 27 home runs and 90 RBI in 556 at bats, and made a trade to Logan Forsythe. Forsythe is an under-the-radar type of second baseman and should help improve the team's hitting in key situations and make some nice plays up the middle along with shortstop, Corey Seager. Speaking of Corey Seager, you can't ignore the fact that he is the best shortstop in the league at the moment according to many around baseball and will once again have a lot of impact on the team in the coming season. In regards to the pitching side of things, Los Angeles has plenty of bullpen depth and rotation depth to help them to have an option in the event of an injury. Of course, there is some concern about how Julio Urias will handle the increased workload, but that should work itself out over time with the right training program put into place. As I said before, the race for the top spot will be extremely tight and both the Dodgers and Giants will be in it until the very last moment, but Los Angeles will end up falling short.
3. Colorado Rockies - While I might be giving Colorado too much credit considering how young and inexperienced their starting rotation is, I must say that I really like how their club looks on paper and feel as though the Ian Desmond signing will pay off more than the Rockies could have hoped. Desmond is going to be a great asset especially since he is so versatile and has the potential to really smash the baseball. Besides Desmond, the Rockies have a lot of talent around the diamond with position players like D.J. LeMahieu, young shortstop Trevor Story, Nolan Arenado, Charlie Blackmon, and Carlos Gonzalez. All five of those guys can rake the ball and you can't forget about young outfield prospect, David Dahl, either who looks to be another stud coming up through the Rockies pipeline. As I have said before, don't be surprised if we see a Blake Street Bombers, Part II with the Rockies this coming season. While Colorado is set from an offensive standpoint and has plenty of bullpen talent, the biggest concern for the Rockies heading into 2017 will be with their starting rotation. There is lots of talent mixed in the rotation especially with, Jon Gray, who will hopefully turn the corner and become the next best starting pitcher in baseball. From a bullpen standpoint, Colorado will hopefully benefit tremendously from the signings of Greg Holland and Mike Dunn. In fact, the Dunn signing could be the best bullpen signing to happen in the league this entire offseason. Holland will be the team's closer, as long as he performs up to expectation every game, and will be complimented by Adam Ottavino, Jason Motte, Mike Dunn, Jordan Lyles, and Chad Qualls in front of him. All in all, 2017 will be a year of great success for Colorado, but one that finds them falling just short of making the postseason.
4. Arizona Diamondbacks - Arizona is in a tough position heading into 2017 as they look as though they will be contenders on paper, but will rely heavily on Zack Greinke, AJ Pollock, and Paul Goldschmidt all season long. Besides that factor, there is also the health factor as all of the team's impact players must stay healthy in 2017. However, to Mike Hazen & Company's credit, the team went into the offseason with a goal of filling their needs only on minor, low risk deals and did just that. The Diamondbacks added several players to their catcher arsenal in Jeff Mathis, Chris Iannetta, Hank Conger, and Josh Thole, beefed up their outfield depth with the signings of Gregor Blanco and Jeremy Hazelbaker, and added several veteran relievers as potential bullpen depth. Some of the main bullpen names signed with Arizona include: Keyvius Sampson, J.J. Hoover, Tom Wilhelmsen, and Kevin Jepsen. While all of those moves were made to create depth and competition for Spring Training, Mike Hazen and the entire front office did a good job of maintaining similar payroll value compared to last year. At the big league level, Arizona has a great amount of depth around the diamond especially after acquiring shortstop, Ketel Marte, from the Seattle Mariners at the beginning of the winter and signing Daniel Descalso. Marte creates competition among Nick Ahmed and Chris Owings at shortstop and Descalso can play virtually any position around the diamond. In addition to having plenty of depth, Arizona has a talented starting rotation especially with Zack Greinke anchoring it down at the top and Robbie Ray who looks like he is in for a breakout season in 2017. Although Arizona is under the guidance of a new front office and changes were made in hopes of the team contending, it simply won't happen in 2017 and Dbacks fans will once again be left disappointed with no postseason baseball.
5. San Diego Padres - As I said at the start of this analysis, all of the teams in the NL West have the tools necessary to compete for the division title, besides the San Diego Padres, who are amidst a massive rebuild. Approximately two years after AJ Preller & Company went for it in hopes of bringing a World Series to San Diego, the Padres are left with prospects and very few well known players besides first baseman, Wil Myers. Although 2017 will be a rebuilding year for the club and many fans won't recognize many of the players on the team, that doesn't mean that the team lacks talent or a bright future. For starters, take a look at the two outfield prospects that will likely play at the big league level in 2017, Manuel Margot and Hunter Renfroe. Both Margot and Renfroe have an extrodinary amount of talent and will have a significant impact on the team moving forward. In addition to Margot and Renfroe, second baseman, Ryan Schimpf, is another player to keep an eye on this coming season as is catcher, Austin Hedges. On the pitching side, things are still a bit merky especially among the starting rotation as San Diego continues to look for a starter who will eat innings. As it is slated right now, Clayton Richard, Luis Perdomo, Jhoulys Chacin, Christian Friedrich, and Jarred Cosart would be the team's number 1-5 with Trevor Cahill, Paul Clemens, and Christian Vargas providing additional depth. While 2017 will likely be another frustrating year for Padres fans from a standings point of view, the future looks extremely bright and this coming season will be an important one to how the team performs in the future.
