The 2012 NL West race was a battle between two rivals: the
Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants. The Dodgers held the division
lead from Opening Day until the end of June until the Giants took over first
and never gave it back. In the NLDS, the Giants lost the first two games at
home, giving themselves the tough task of having to win three straight all on
the road. Challenge accepted as the Giants came back to defeat the Reds in five
games. The comeback kids were back at again, this time in the NLCS when they
battled back from a 3-1 deficit to defeat the Cardinals in seven games. The
Giants advanced to the World Series to face the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers were
no match for the Giants as they not only won their second title in three years
but also swept the Tigers. The Dodgers finished two games behind the Cards for
the second wild card spot while a late charge by the Arizona Diamondbacks came
up short as they lost 6 of their last 10. The San Diego Padres had their second
straight losing season, finishing in fourth place at 76-86 while the Colorado
Rockies had their worst season in franchise history, finishing in last at
64-98.
Arizona Diamondbacks: After winning the
2011 NL West Crown, the Arizona Diamondbacks entered the 2012 season with lofty
expectations including winning the division and the NL Pennant. The
Diamondbacks failed to achieve their goals as they struggled to stay above .500
all year and finished in 3rd place at 81-81. This offseason, the
Diamondbacks got rid of two of their starting outfielders when they traded OF
Justin Upton to the Atlanta Braves and OF Chris Young to the Oakland A’s. The
bold move by the organization will benefit the team greatly as both players
struggled last year and struck out a lot. Gerardo Parra is expected to take
over the starting center fielder job and Adam Eaton was supposed to be the
starting right fielder, but a late spring training injury will force him to
miss 6-8 weeks. In his first full season with the team, 1B Paul Goldschmidt had
his coming out party last year, hitting .286 with 20 HRs and 82 RBIs.
Goldschmidt will definitely improve on those numbers making him a possible
All-Star. 2B Aaron Hill had a .302 batting average last year and LF Jason Kubel
had a career high 30 HRs. 3B Martin Prado comes over to the Diamondbacks from
the Upton trade and is capable of 15 HRs and 80 RBIs this year. C Miguel
Montero is coming off of his second straight season of over 80 RBIs. The
Diamondbacks have a lineup that can take them to the postseason but the factor that
will determine if they make it to the playoffs is their starting rotation. Ian
Kennedy is the team’s ace with 36 wins in his two seasons with the team. Wade
Miley had 16 wins as a rookie last year and was chosen as an All-Star. Can
Miley improve off of last year or will he fall into the dreaded sophomore
slump? The Diamondbacks also signed Brandon McCarthy to a two-year deal in the
offseason and return Trevor Cahill to give them four quality starters, but who
will become their 5th starter? Will it be Patrick Corbin, Tyler
Skaggs, or Randall Delgado? The D-Backs wont have to worry about their bullpen
as they have one of the deepest bullpens in the league with setup men Heath
Bell and David Hernandez and closer J.J. Putz. The D-Backs are the dark horse to
win the division but don’t be surprised if they are in contention come late
September.
Colorado Rockies: The 2012 season was
the worst season in franchise history for the Colorado Rockies as they finished
last in the division at 64-98. Manager Jim Tracy resigned after four seasons
with the team and the team hired former Rockie Walt Weiss. The Rockies were
without All-Star SS Troy Tulowitzki for much of last year as Tulowitzki only
played in 47 games due to needing surgery on his left groin. Without Tulowitzki
in the lineup, the Rockies still managed to finish 6th in the league
in runs as OF Carlos Gonzalez, C Wilin Rosario, and RF Michael Cuddyer all
combined to fill the void left by Tulowitzki. The problem for the Rockies last
year was their pitching. The Rockies pitching staff ranked last in the MLB with
a team ERA of 5.22. There is no way a team can compete in a division if they
allow over five runs per game. The Rockies didn’t have a double-digit winner
last year but will get SP Jorge De La Rosa back after he missed the 2012 season
due to having Tommy John Surgery. Having Tulowitzki healthy will help the
Rockies in their 2013 campaign but due to their lack of quality pitchers, the
Rockies will have their third straight season of finishing under .500. 
Los Angeles Dodgers: The Los Angeles
Dodgers are looking to get back to the playoffs for the first time since 2009.
Although the Dodgers didn’t make the playoffs last year, fans were excited as
Frank McCourt finally sold the team to a group that included Stan Kasten and
Laker legend Magic Johnson. Since buying the team, the Dodgers have traded for
1B Adrian Gonzalez, OF Carl Crawford, P Josh Beckett, SS Hanley Ramirez, and
signed pitchers Zach Greinke and Hyun-Jin Ryu. The Dodgers have the second
largest payroll behind the Yankees entering Monday’s Opening Day at just over
$216 million. In his third year as manager, Don Mattingly will have to realize
that this year is either playoffs or bust for the Dodgers as expectations are
high in Chavez Ravine. When healthy, the Dodgers lineup is one of the best in
the league. MVP candidate CF Matt Kemp is finally healthy after having surgery
in the offseason to repair a torn labrum. Gonzalez struggled early after being
traded from the Red Sox but still managed to go over 100 RBIs for the third
straight season and Ramirez had 44 RBIs in 64 games with the team. The lineup
also features RF Andre Either, Crawford, 3B Luis Cruz. The main question
entering this season for the Dodgers is if they can stay healthy. Ramirez is
already out until mid-May after tearing his right thumb ligament in the WBC and
Crawford is still recovering after undergoing Tommy John surgery on August 23rd
of last year. The Dodgers pitching staff ranked 3rd in 2012 with a
team ERA of 3.34. SP Clayton Kershaw is perhaps the best left-handed pitcher in
the MLB and Greinke can be a great #2 starter if he can stay healthy. Ryu will
be a rookie this year but has the tools to be the Dodgers #3 starter and
Beckett’s numbers improved once he arrived in LA last year. The Dodgers are
looking to make it to the World Series for the first time since 1988 and have
expectations of doing so. But can the Dodgers stay healthy all season, or will
too many injuries force the Dodgers to miss the playoffs for a 4th
straight season?
San Diego Padres: For the 4th
time in five years, the San Diego Padres finished the season under .500,
finishing 76-86 in the 2012 season. It was a one man show in 2012 for the
Padres as 3B Chase Headley had a breakout season with 31 HRs and 115 RBIs.
Headley also was the NL RBI Champion and was a Gold Glove recipient. Besides
Headley, only OF Carlos Quentin was the only Padre to hit more than 10 HRs and
1B Yonder Alonso was the only Padre to have more than 60 RBIs. Quentin is
healthy and will finally be able to play a full season. The Padres will
struggle early on the season as Headley is not expected to return until
late-April due to a fractured left thumb. Pitchers Clayton Richard and Edinson
Volquez each had double-digit wins in 2012 but also had double-digit losses. The Padres are still a couple years away from
competing for a division title and will miss they playoffs for 7th
straight season.
San Francisco Giants: The San Francisco
Giants are coming off their 7th World Series Title in 2012 as they
swept the Detroit Tigers in the Fall Classic. The Giants didn’t make it easy on
themselves at all in the postseason as they had to win three straight just to
make it to the NLCS and then had to come back from a 3-1 deficit. Entering the
2013 season, can the Giants repeat as champions? Absolutely. The Giants have
the 2012 NL MVP in C Buster Posey. Posey had perhaps the best season by a
catcher as he led the MLB in batting average at .336 but also had 24 HRs and
103 RBIs. 3B Pablo Sandoval was plagued by injury all season long but still
managed to bat .283 and OF Angel Pagan became one of the best leadoff hitters
in the league. The Giants have one of the deepest rotations in the league as
all five starters had at least 10 wins last year led by P Matt Cain and Madison
Bumgarmer who each had 16. If two-time NL Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum can get
back to his normal self after a disappointing season last year, the Giants will
have the best rotation in the league. The Giants have the team to get back to
the World Series for a second straight year but can they do it will be the
question.
Prediction: The Giants-Dodgers rivalry
is one of the best in sports. But lately it has been all Giants as they have
won two of the last three World Series Titles. The Dodgers feel that they
finally have the team to defeat the Giants. The NL West, like it always seems
to do, will come down to the last few weeks. In the end, I think that the
Dodgers will win the division by one game and the Giants will earn a Wild Card
Spot.
1.
Los Angeles Dodgers
2.
San Francisco Giants
3.
Arizona Diamondbacks
4.
Colorado Rockies
5.
San Diego Padres
images were used from bleacherreport.com, cbssports.com, sportsillustrated.com, latimes.com, and mlbreports.com
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