MLB- NL West is Hot
Lot’s of folks are taking note and it is noted here today. The National League West has really improved as a division. It’s an exciting place to be these days—very competitive, with excellent pitching and four our of five teams that can make it into the playoffs.
It is no longer the division where a team takes the division by winning less than 90 games or where over half of the teams win less than 80 games. This is a division with some of the best pitching in the league and some solid hitting.
Four of the five teams in this division occupy the top six positions in terms of ERA.
The San Diego Padres lead the league with a 3.14 ERA, while the Los Angeles Dodgers are right behind them sporting a 3.80 ERA. The Mets in the East and Cubs in the Central are third and fourth with the Arizona Diamondbacks at five with a 3.99 ERA and the San Francisco Giants next with an ERA of 4.01. Colorado, although competitive in the division, is 12th in ERA at 4.69. They make up for that in hitting.
In batting, Colorado leads the league with a .276 team average and are second in run production. Presently, the Dodgers are hitting .274. When you look at the entire pitcher, the Dodgers look the best, offering both solid pitching and offensive output. But Colorado also has the best fielding in the league– .990 F%. They have made only 35 errors. Arizona and the Dodgers have problems in the field, while San Diego is sound with a .985 F% and 52 miscues. Frisco is a bit better, posting a .986 F%.
The Rockies, Giants and Padres are all above the .983 NL fielding average, while at .981 and .980 respectively, the Diamondback and Dodgers are below.
To update recent activity—the Dodgers won in extra innings today, getting past the Padres and moving into first-place by one game. They have won three straight, while the former first-place Padres have lost three in a row. Colorado has moved up to 5.5 games out of first, after winning seven of their last 10. Presently, that’s the best 10-game stretch in the NL. Arizona is 2.5 games back despite going three and seven over the last 10.
The Giants are 11.5 games out and have one thing left in the season—Barry bonds setting the new lifetime homerun mark. More on that in another blog.
Pitching—here’s a few stats.
NL Wins:
Brady Penny (LAD) 10- 1; Randy Wolf (LAD) 9- 6 and Derek Lowe (LAD) 8- 8.
Jake Peavy (SDG) 9- 3; Chris Young (SDG) 8- 3 and Greg Maddux (SDG) 7- 7.
NL ERA:
Chris Young (SDG) 1.94 and Jake Peavy (SDG) 2.19) are one and two in the league.
SAVES:
Theses teams are 2 through 5 respectively in the NL—
Jose Valverde (ARI) 26 Saves; Trevor Hoffman (SD) 25 Saves; Takashi Saito (LA) 23 Saves; and Brian Fuentes (COL) 20 Saves.
This is the strength of the NL West—the pitching. Good hitting, yes. Solid fielding—definitely. But the thing that wins championships—pitching—is there.
Enjoy this 2007 NL West ride.
I think the Dodgers are the team—they have pitching and hitting.
Colorado could be a spoiler—pitching is good, hitting and fielding are some of the league’s best.
San Diego has very deep pitching but their hitting may simply be a big let down.
Arizona has a great team ERA and the save leader, but the team’s hitting is very weak. Still the club is well positioned to compete in the post-All-Star game part of the regular season.
Here’s what I see—
Dodgers first. Colorado will be second. Wild Card is possible. San Diego and Arizona will not make it due to their last in the league hitting (SDG is 16th and ARI is 15th) and poor run production (12th and 11th respectively).
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