NL West Predictions: San Francisco Giants Pitch Their Way to Another Title
I love predictions. I love making them (even when they make me look bad), love reading them (even though, as a Twins fan, they usually make me depressed these days) and I even love looking back on them.
Looking at last year’s National League West, however, makes it clear the rest of this article could be worth about as much as all those losing lottery tickets you bought last Friday. The thing that makes predictions fun — the thing that makes baseball fun — is anything can happen.
The Arizona Diamondbacks were the surprise team of 2011, and one of the least likely division winners of all-time. If you look back a year ago at the predictions, I doubt you’d find many people who had Arizona even finishing fourth, let alone winning the division.
Led by breakouts from Ian Kennedy and Daniel Hudson, Kirk Gibson’s D-backs shocked the baseball world by winning 94 games. Whether its complacency or something else, we see teams like this jump up one year and disappear the next in all sports.
With a roster of young stars that improved over the offseason, it would be logical to think the D-Backs would win another division title in 2012. Sometimes you can throw logic out the window.
Just look at the 2011 Arizona Diamondbacks.
I like the D-backs to return to the playoffs this year, but as one of the wild cards behind the San Francisco Giants. Even though I still don’t understand what they’re doing with Brandon Belt, the Giants’ offense should be improved with the return of Buster Posey and additions of Melky Cabrera and Angel Pagan. With just an average scoring team, San Francisco should win plenty of games behind their three legit Cy Young candidates: Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and Madison Bumgarner.
Despite missing their best offensive player, the Giants won 86 games and were only four games out of the playoffs last season. While I don’t know if they can repeat with 2011 breakouts, I expect less of a regression from Ryan Vogelsong and Cabrera than most people are projecting.
The games between teams of this division provide some of the best pitchers duels and most suspenseful low-scoring baseball, and that’s why I’ve got to go with the team with the most pitching.
The Colorado Rockies went old this offseason, scooping up veterans such as 49-year-old Jaime Moyer. Michael Cuddyer was the headliner of their offseason additions, he’ll join Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez to form yet another dynamic Rockies lineup.
The Rockies have as many new faces as any team in baseball, which is a good reason this team could surprise. I wouldn’t be shocked if they make the playoffs, but I wouldn’t be shocked if they finished last in the West, either.
I am so happy for Los Angeles Dodgers fans now that they have a new ownership group that includes Magic Johnson, who can put a positive face on the organization. They’re not going to be terrible, but I can’t see them being competitive in 2012.
With a roster full of hungry youngsters trying o make names for themselves, the San Diego Padres are going to play everybody tough. They’ll still finish last in the division, but the future is bright in Southern California.
Over the past few years, this has been the most unstable division in baseball. If history tells us anything, it’s expect the unexpected in the NL West.
2012 NL WEST PREDICTION:
- San Francisco Giants
- Arizona Diamondbacks
- Colorado Rockies
- Los Angeles Dodgers
- San Diego Padres
OTHER NL PREDICTIONS
- NL Central Predictions: Milwaukee Brewers Still Kings Despite Loss of Prince Fielder
- NL East Predictions: Washington Nationals, Miami Marlins Capitalize on Philadelphia Phillies’ Slide
