Mid-Season MLB Report Card: NL West

Major League Baseball's worst division features one bad team, and four mediocre ones. Which one will actually "win" the division? Who knows at this point. The Padres looked good, but then Adam Eaton got hurt. Jake Peavy and Brian Lawrence are very good pitchers, and will probably sustain their team's life into September and October, before the Fathers die out quickly in the playoffs. The Diamondbacks went out and spent money last offseason. They are four games below .500 on July 23rd. The Dodgers, at nine games worse in the loss column, are still in the hunt for the division. The Giants are terrible and Barry Bonds has been exposed. The Rockies make me grimace every time I decide to watch them. So, right now, this division reminds me of a bad Jerry Bruckheimer flick, which is not a good thing. At the end of the season, Major League Baseball will hire a group of lucky individuals to clean up the leftovers of the disgusting race that will finish the season. There will lots of throw up thanks to awful baseball, and maybe even some explosions, based on the bombs that opposing hitters will be smashing off every pitcher in this division, except for Jake Peavy.

San Diego Padres: To give you an idea of what is expected out of this team in 2005, I will refer you to my 2005 MVP Baseball game on Nintendo GameCube. The Padres are rated 13th and expected to be good. This season, in real life, they are a whopping 50 and 48 on July 23rd. Brian Giles is the only hitter producing in a lineup that holds some potentially devastating power. Phil Nevin, granted he approves of his trade, will leave a little bit of a hole, but Joe Randa will fill that in nicely, getting on base at a much more efficient clip than Nevin. Ryan Klesko and Ramon Hernandez have performed poorly out of the batter's box this season, and Khalil Greene isn't getting any better. I don't think these hitters can blame Petco Park, but they sure can blame their swings and their eyes.

The pitching staff of the San Diego Fathers features starters that really rev my engine (joking, only partly). Jake Peavy is definitely a stud and he will carry any rotation he is ever on until he retires. Brian Lawrence is a very good number two starter, and pitches effectively every night. Woody Williams is a reliable veteran and Tim Stauffer is a young guy that throws strikes. If only Adam Eaton was healthy. The bullpen has Chris Hammond, Trevor Hoffman, and Scott Linebrink, three good pitchers that will sustain late inning leads, if there ever are any. I wish that this team hit more so the guys that do the pitching can get more credit for their efficiency.
Final Season Record: 87-75; 1st place in the NL West

Arizona Diamondbacks: The Rattlesnakes have a great starting rotation. Brad Halsey, Brandon Webb, Shawn Estes, and Javier Vazquez have all consistently turned in quality starts in the first four months of the season. Russ Ortiz just isn't doing as well as they need him to do. Mike Koplove and Lance Cormier have done well out of the bullpen, and adding Claudio Vargas can only help. Hopefully Shawn Estes will return healthy and be as effective as he was prior to his injury; and Brandon Lyon will come back strong and close out games again for the Diamondbacks.

The Diamondbacks have a great set of players that can immediately help them make a run. The OBPs of Shawn Green, Craig Counsell, Luis Gonzalez, Troy Glaus, Tony Clark, and Chad Tracy, are all something to admire. They get on base and score pretty well. I think they will need even more production out of their big guns, Shawn Green and Troy Glaus, if they are going to overtake the Padres. I just can't see that happening unless the Diamondbacks get scorching hot.
Final Season Record: 86-76; 2nd place in the NL West

Los Angeles Dodgers: Don't look now, but Jeff Kent is delivering, again. I really think Kent has bolstered his resume to make the Hall of Fame with his continuous efforts for whatever team he plays on. Olmedo Saenz and Antonion Perez have done well in their newly found roles, and will continue to produce with Kent. I think Milton Bradley's return will help the Dodgers make a run at the division title. JD Drew needs to earn the money he's making, and he has been of late, unfortunately, Cesar Izturis and Jason Phillips aren't earning theirs. This lineup needs a major shakeup or else they will lose a few too many games to stay in contention.

Brad Penny, Derek Lowe, and Jeff Weaver have all been good this season. Odalis Perez, when he's healthy, is capable of very good starts as well. If only they had a good fifth starter, then the Dodgers might be a lot better off. They do not have Eric Gagne, who, despite being a closer, which is a position that I do not think is hugely important, is definitely the best reliever around and would help the Dodgers greatly if healthy. Yhency Brazoban has been mediocre as Gagne's replacement, and Giovanni Carrara just isn't hacking it. The bullpen is a lost cause, and the Dodgers can't really rely on anyone to bring home wins. Because of this, they need to make a move for Eddie Guardado, or another good reliever on the market, or they will not make up ground on the Padres.
Final Season Record: 81-81; 3rd place in NL West

San Francisco Giants: As much as I would love blaming the Giants' season on Barry Bonds, I can't. The lowest WHIP in the rotation is 1.41. No one can ever fully blame the pitching staff for losing, so we can't dish all the blame on them either, but Jason Schmidt just isn't what he was and the Giants need him to be what he was. Brett Tomko is not going to hold down any team's hitters for very long, Kirk Reuter isn't the 2002 World Series Kirk Reuter, and Noah Lowry stopped winning and started getting hit all over the park to places his fielders were not. Tyler Walker isn't going to shut too many people down late in the game, so hopefully the addition of LaTroy Hawkins will help the bullpen improve. This team's pitching needs a shot in the arm, pun intended, and fast.

Edgardo Alfonzo, Omar Vizquel, Moises Alou, and Ray Durham have all been solid at getting on base and scoring runs. And, no, this is not a review of the 1995 baseball season. The team has done well from the hitting standpoint despite missing Barry Bonds. But while they do miss Barry Bonds' bat, what they don't miss is a loud mouth, arrogant cheater who draws too much media attention and not enough praise from his teammates for his friendly nature. Well, the Giants need more pitching, less injuries, and Barry Bonds, none of which they are going to get this season. See you next April.
Final Season Record: 74-88; 4th place in the NL West

Colorado Rockies: I think the Rockies are fixable (see: Building a Rock-Solid Rockies Ballclub). As of right now, however, they are bad. They do carry a mean, young crop of players that will become very good Major Leaguers in a few years. Todd Helton is always good for a .300-clip or better, and a good .400-OBP to boot. Garrett Atkins, Brad Hawpe, Aaron Miles, JD Closser, Clint Barmes, and Matt Holliday, will all be featured prominently in a very good Rockies lineup in the next few years. Too bad Clint Barmes hurt himself, he was a shoo-in for NL Rookie of the Year. The Rockies will not do anything this year, but are preparing to make a run at success in the next few years with the lineup they are assembling.

Jeff Francis is one of the best young pitchers baseball has to offer. Mix him with Jamey Wright, Jason Jennings (just recently hurt), and Chin-hui Tsao, and the Rockies have a good young staff to work with. The acquisition of Zach Day will help the rotation hopefully this season, but more definitely next season. Brian Fuentes is a very capable late-inning reliever, and only needs a little help from Marcos Carvajal and David Cortes to make the Rockies a good late-inning team. Shawn Chacon doesn't fit in with the Rockies, and Byung-Hyun Kim doesn't fit in with baseball. Those two need to go before anything can improve for the Rockies. Hope remains bright for the future, but dismal for the present.
Final Season Record: 68-94; last place in the NL West...Not something you brag about!

This division is by far the worst in Major League Baseball. At least it will be interesting to see who emerges from the sludge that is the NL West. The Padres have the pitching to win the division, and I think they will. The Diamondbacks need to stay healthy and really catch fire, and if they do, they can make a run at the title. The Dodgers need more out of their hitters, and then, and only then, they might contend. The poor Giants need Barry Bonds. And who could forget the lowly Rockies, who without Todd Helton and Jeff Francis, would be sold to another owner for cheaper than the US bought Alaska (which was only $24, by the way). Thanks for reading, and be sure to check out my playoff predictions.