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UCB Project: NL West Predictions

Posted on March 24, 2011 at 8:21 PM
Filed Under: United Cardinal Bloggers
Today we finish up our look around the divisions by tackling the NL West.  Cardinal fans probably know less about the West than other divisions simply because their games start so late at night for us.  Still, there's some awfully good baseball out that way.

1) San Francisco Giants--I don't think you can pick against them, being that they are the World Champs and they have not done anything to damage the team coming back.  When you have the best rotation this side of Philadelphia with Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and Jonathan Sanchez, you are going to be in a lot of ball games.  The offense is still no great shakes, but a full year of Buster Posey and the pending arrival of Brandon Belt could fix a lot of those problems, especially if Pablo Sandoval's weight loss means that his offensive production increases.  Even with Brian Wilson having some health issues, this is the team to beat.

2) Colorado Rockies--There's not a lot of talk about the Coors Field effect anymore, but that should help the Rockies somewhat.  No matter where they play, though, players like Troy Tulowitski will hit.  Carlos Gonzalez had some pretty extreme home/road splits last year, so if he closes those up to the good, that's just a bonus for the team.  Put that offense together with a pitching staff fronted by Ubaldo Jimenez and you've got a wild-card contender at worst.  If the Giants falter at all, the Rockies likely will be there to pounce.

3) San Diego Padres--The gap between second and third could be a big one in this division.  Sure, the Padres were the feel good story of 2010 and, for Mike's sake, I hope they can build on last year.  The fact is, though, they slipped in the second half and then traded off Adrian Gonzalez in the offseason.  It'll be interesting to see if Cameron Maybin can get his career finally on track in that big ballpark or if Mat Latos can continue to develop into the ace that he looked like last year.  If not, there might not be many leads for Heath Bell to save.

4) Los Angeles Dodgers--The divorce still hangs over the franchise and it puts a lot of things in limbo.  This team should have the horses to stay on the fringes of the race, what with Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier and James Loney in the lineup.  The pitching staff has its hits (Clayton Kershaw) and its question marks (Chad Billingsley), but playing in a pitcher's park helps them out a bit.  Will the '09 Jonathan Broxton or the '10 version show up?  That could be the difference between them passing the Padres or staying behind them.

5) Arizona Diamondbacks--There's still a lot of work to do out in the desert.  The team hopes that Justin Upton can shake off whatever affected him last year and get back on the superstar train.  They traded off Mark Reynolds, so you know if nothing else strikeouts for the hitters will go down in 2011.  After an offseason of trade talk, does a strong start get Stephen Drew shipped out of town?  Is the team ace really Ian Kennedy, and can he prove that over the course of a season?  Lots of questions, but it might be interesting to see the answers.


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2 Comments

2 Comments | Leave a comment

user-pic
WilliaminMaine | March 24, 2011 9:16 PM | Reply

Cain is struggling with his health. I'm not a big believer in Sanchez. Not signing Uribe and replacing him with Tejada was a huge mistake that will cost them. The Rockies win the division. The Padres take second, then the Giants, then the Dodgers and the Diamondbacks bring up the rear.

user-pic
Leffty | March 25, 2011 1:21 PM | Reply

Thought everyone should see this coverage of how historically bad Garcia's outing was yesterday:

http://tinyurl.com/4gl7nba

Good thing it's only March

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Heroes
Matt Holliday (5)
Matt Carpenter (4)
Rafael Furcal (4)
Carlos Beltran (3)
Jaime Garcia (3)
Jon Jay (3)
Kyle Lohse (3)
Lance Lynn (3)
Yadier Molina (3)
David Freese (2)
Adam Wainwright (2)
Lance Berkman (1)
Allen Craig (1)
Shane Robinson (1)
Fernando Salas (1)
Jake Westbrook (1)

2011 Top Hero: Lance Berkman (24)
2010 Top Heroes: Matt Holliday and Albert Pujols (24)
2009 Top Hero: Albert Pujols (28)
2008 Top Hero: Albert Pujols (25)

Goats
Matt Holliday (4)
Carlos Beltran (3)
David Freese (3)
Jaime Garcia (3)
Jason Motte (3)
Marc Rzepczynski (3)
Adam Wainwright (3)
Rafael Furcal (2)
Tyler Greene (2)
J.C. Romero (2)
Fernando Salas (2)
Mitchell Boggs (1)
Matt Carpenter (1)
Tony Cruz (1)
Daniel Descalso (1)
Jon Jay (1)
Erik Komatsu (1)
Kyle Lohse (1)
Victor Marte (1)
Eduardo Sanchez (1)
Jake Westbrook (1)

2011 Top Goat: Ryan Theriot (12)
2010 Top Goat: Brendan Ryan (14)
2009 Top Goats: Rick Ankiel and Todd Wellemeyer (13)
2008 Top Goat: Troy Glaus (13)

2012 Happy Flights
Happy Flights: 7
Happy Flight Opportunities: 12
Happy Flight %: 58%

Through 5/20

    Cardinal Nation Approval Ratings (March 2012)
    Adam Wainwright 91.9% (down 2.8%)
    Chris Carpenter 90.1% (up 3.2%)
    Lance Berkman 88.6%
    Tony La Russa 88.2% (up 17.4%)
    Yadier Molina 87.4% (up 3.7%)
    Matt Holliday 87.3% (down 3.8%)
    David Freese 85.5%
    John Mozeliak 85.4% (up 13.3%)
    Mike Shannon 85.3% (up 0.4%)
    Jose Oquendo 84.7%
    Derrick Goold 82.8% (down 5.0%)
    Mark McGwire 82.6% (up 20.1%)
    John Rooney 81.5% (down 2.8%)
    Mike Matheny 81.1%
    Bill DeWitt 79.8% (up 8.8%)
    United Cardinal Bloggers 78.9%
    Skip Schumaker 73.3% (up 9.2%)
    Jim Hayes 71.9% (down 4.2%)
    Jon Jay 71.1%
    B.J. Rains 69.5% (down 0.9%)
    Kyle Lohse 68.9% (up 13.8%)
    Dan McLaughlin 68.0%
    Joe Strauss 67.7% (up 10.2%)
    Ricky Horton 67.5% (down 1.6%)
    Al Hrabosky 66.4% (up 3.2%)
    Albert Pujols 54.9% (down 45.5%)
    Colby Rasmus 46.5% (down 35.3%)

    2011
    Dave Duncan 87.9% (up 0.9%)
    Matthew Leach 85.5%
    Pop Warner 76.7%
    Ryan Franklin 72.8% (up 3.1%)
    John Vuch 68.9%
    Jeff Luhnow 66.4%
    Dan Lozano 58.7%

    2009
    Rick Ankiel 83.9%
    Chris Duncan 69.1%


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