The Dugout: Breaking down the NL West

Welcome to the Dugout. In today's volume and part four of our six-part series, we push onto the National League; specifically, the National League West. The NL West includes the San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, Colorado Rockies, and the Arizona Diamondbacks. This year the NL West is packed with talented teams, which should come as no surprise as the defending World Champs, the Los Angeles Dodgers, are in this division. So without further ado, let's break down what I've learned so far this season from this division.

In what could be one of the biggest shocks, the San Francisco Giants sit atop the standings with a 4125 record so far on the season. The performance is good enough for the best in all the National League. After a not-so-great season last year, they finished third in the division with a 29-31 record. So what's the story of the sudden turnabout? The Giants have a group of veteran players who are having vintage seasons. The vets are playing good ball right now and have pushed this team to be one of the strongest so far. Let's lead with the pitching. The group sits third in the NL with a team ERA(Earned Run Average) of 3.18. They are led by veteran Kevin Gausman, one of those players who has had a resurrection so far this year. Gausman has an incredible 1.43 ERA and has been remarkably valuable to open the year. His strikeout percentage (K%) rests at 31.4, which is the second-best of his career. The pitcher relies on a four-seam fastball that sits around 95 and generates some glove-side movement, but his swingand-miss pitch is his nasty split-finger. The split has an enormous sharp break that draws above-average swing and misses. He also throws a slider and a changeup but rarely. He often relies on his four-seam and split. Whatever he is doing seems to work. Anthony DeSclafani has been another surprise this season as the veteran pitcher has rolled back the clock as well. He came over from a career with the Cincinnati Reds, where he was a decent but not great pitcher. This year he has been remarkable; he has an ERA of 3.09. DeSclafani is more of a contact pitcher relying on ground balls and good defense to get outs. He has a ground ball rate (GB%) of 48.1%. He primarily relies on his slider, which has excellent movement and mixes in a sinker and fastball. His slider gets him swings and misses, and he uses the slider to set up his sinker, which generates a lot of ground balls. Now let's move on to the bats, where like the pitchers, two names stick out to me, both having throwback years. Those are Brandon Crawford and the great Buster Posey. Let's start with Crawford, and man, is this guy hot this year. He is experiencing a great year up to this point. Crawford is batting .268, possesses an SLG% of .545, and 15 home runs on the year. He seems locked in at the plate and is hitting to all areas of the field this year. Buster Posey is having a career resurgence of sorts, as the long-time vet is batting .329, SLG .571, with 11 HR so far this year. Now, it is still only June, and these guys could melt down the stretch, but if this team stays hot, the NL West race could be an entertaining one to watch.

Sitting in second are the defending World Champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers. What can I say nice about the Dodgers? Well, not much not a fan of this team. Mostly because I have some friends like Big Spring Steers Head Baseball Coach Daniel Carrillo, who is an immense Dodgers fan. Naturally, we have a rivalry, so I don't like them as a team. But I'll be as fair as I can about them for the purpose of this article. The Dodgers come in with a record of 40-26, which places them just one game back of the Giants. I don't think it's necessarily a case of the Dodgers not being good as much as it is of the Giants just playing way above expectations to this point so far. The Dodgers won their first Championship since the 1988 World Series. The Dodgers are one of the most storied franchises in all baseball, and there is no doubt. They have won seven World Series titles, including last year's. They came into this season as the favorite to repeat, especially after adding last season's NL Cy Young winner Trevor Bauer to the pitching rotation. The Dodgers have one of the most stout lineups in the whole MLB. They have power up and down the lineup and do an exceptional job at establishing contact. They have a team batting average of .242, which is good enough to place them third-best in the NL. Max Muncy has a career year to this point, as the slugger is batting .264, has an SLG of .528, and has 14 HR on the year. Justin Turner re-signed with the Dodgers this off season and picked up right where he left off. Turner has consistently been a powerful player, but now he seems poised to take the next step. He is batting .278, SLG of .485, and has chipped in 12 HR on the year. The Dodgers are also outstanding on their pitching end and have one of the best pitching staffs in baseball. They took a gigantic blow losing Carrot Top look-alike Dustin May for the season with an elbow injury. Los Angeles is full of dominant pitchers, but let's lead off with reigning Cy Young winner Trevor Bauer. Bauer signed a three-year $102 million deal with the Dodgers this off-season. Bauer is one of the most outspoken players in all the league but has the stuff to back up his mouth. He has an ERA of 2.64, a K% of 31.6, and a BB% of 8.3. Bauer has an arsenal of pitches at his disposal. Bauer throws at least six different pitches. His four-seam sits anywhere from 93 to 97; it has some arm-side movement and has good backspin. His cutter has a heavy sink to it and has an excellent cut to it, which causes many swings and misses. Bauer's slider sweeps across the zone and possesses remarkable depth to the pitch. His curve is simply one of the best in all of baseball, and it has impressive break and depth. Bauer is the new breed of pitchers; he relies on analytics and data to know what pitches to throw and what time to throw them. He is also one of my favorite pitchers to watch work. His philosophy of pitching is remarkable. They likewise have Clayton Kershaw, the tall lefty who has been great for several years now, and he continues to impress. He possesses an ERA of 3.39 and a K% of 29.0%. Kershaw is one of the best year in and year out, and this season is no different. Kershaw uses his slider most of all. The slider has excellent movement across the zone and has a nice bite to it. We have always recognized him for his curveball because it is the best in baseball. It has a hard, sharp break that gets a lot of swings and misses. Walker Buehler is an exceptional young talent. He has a four-seam that sits around 95 but can hit 98 easily. He also uses a fantastic slider that has massive movement and break to it as well. Buehler is one of the best young arms in the league. As much as I hate to say this, and yes, Carrillo, I'm fixing to compliment your team: The Dodgers will win this division and be a formidable contender for the World Series; now, whether they can beat a particular NL Central team that I'll cover later, well, that's a different story. Still, these LA Dodgers are for solid, and they are one of the best in baseball.

In third place is the San Diego Padres, with a 38-30 record, which puts them four games back of first place. The Padres are one of the more dangerous young teams in all of baseball. They made some great offseason moves, adding depth to their pitching staff. They got Yu Darvish in a trade with the Cubs, Blake Snell from Tampa Bay Rays, and signed Joe Musgrove. The pitching has been the foundation of this team to open the season. They have an NL best team ERA of 3.05; they also sit second in the National League in strikeout percentage with a K% of 27.8. The pitching staff is full of excellent arms. Joe Musgrove, who signed as a free agent, has been lights out this year. He has a team-low ERA for a starter of 2.50 and a K% of 33.8. Musgrove also pitched a no-hitter earlier this year. Musgrove gets it done in various ways; the right hander relies primarily on his slider and curveball, both of which he throws around 25% of the time. The slider has great movement and swings across the plate, prompting a lot of ground balls and swings and misses. His curveball has a marvelous break to it, and he can bury it in the zone. Musgrove also works in a lovely cutter with some excellent arm-side movement and has some sink to it. He has consistently been a good pitcher; he established his big league career in Houston in 2016 and later went to the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2018 before coming over to San Diego. Another big-time pitcher the Padres have is Yu Darvish, who came over in a trade with the Chicago Cubs this off-season. Darvish was coming off a great year as a Cub, where he finished second in the National League Cy Young voting. He is having another good year for the Padres as he has an ERA of 2.57 and a K% of 29.3. Darvish has a ridiculous pitch mix as he can throw up to eight different pitches. Mostly, Darvish relies on his slider and a fabulous four-seam fastball. He will also incorporate in a sinker, curveball, and split-finger. We have constantly known Darvish as one of the toughest pitchers in baseball because everything he throws has good movement. The starting rotation isn't the only part of the pitching staff who has been doing good. Mark Melancon is undergoing a marvelous year as the Padres closer; he has an ERA of 0.64, a K% of 21.8, but a ground ball rate of 64.0%. He has converted 19 of his 21 save opportunities to start the year. Pitching isn't the only thing this organization has working for them; they also have one of, if not the finest young stars in the game. Fernando Tatis Jr., The young shortstop, is entertaining to follow as he plays the sport with enthusiasm and swagger. He is batting .273, SLG .647, bears a WRC+ of 162, and has 20 HR on the year, second-most in all baseball. Tatis Jr. will be a superstar for years to come. The Padres have the team to challenge the Dodgers and the Giants for this division. If they can grow together as a youthful club, the sky will be the limit.

The Colorado Rockies are in fourth place in the division with a 27-41, which makes them 15.5 games back of the first-place Giants. As you can determine from the record, the Rockies have struggled so far this season. As you would assume, the bats have been pretty good, playing half of their games in Colorado as they have a team batting average of .243, which is the fourthbest in the NL. It's the pitching that has been killing this team. They have a team ERA of 4.97, which is second-worst in the National League. While this team has talented players like Trevor Story and Ryan McMahon, the pitching will repeatedly be a dilemma for the Rockies. Siting 15.5 games back, this season is lost for them, so it's on to next year for the Rockies.

The Arizona Diamondbacks brings up the rear of the NL West with a dismal record of 20-48, which leaves them 22.5 games back. What can I say good about the Diamondbacks? Well, not much. The pitching has been pretty ugly outside of a few starts from Madison Bumgarner. Hitting has been little better. This team is just having a lousy year, plain and simple. Eduardo Escobar has shown some flashes of being decent, and he has some pop in his bat, which is clear by his 15 HR on the year. But other than that, it's just been a poor year for the D-Backs.

The NL West will come down to a race between the Dodgers and the Padres, in my mind, while I don't think the Giants can keep up this kind of play all season long. I believe that talent will always prevail, and the Dodgers and the Padres are loaded with talent. I do unfortunately think it will be the Dodgers that will pull it out. If I'm honest, they will have a significant chance at winning another championship as much as that hurts to say, but facts are facts; the Dodgers are good.

Dustin is the Sports Reporter for the Big Spring Herald. To contact him e-mail sports@bigspringherald.com or call 432-263-7331.