Colorado Rockies and a look at the National League West

Over at MLB.com, Richard Justice and Anthony Castrovince discussed their ranking of each division as it stands at this point in the off-season. Castrovince has the National League West in second behind American League East. Justice put the National League West in first place. So, let us do a little dive into why the National League West, home of the Colorado Rockies, will be the toughest division in baseball in 2018.

Full disclosure, one of Rox Pile’s faithful leaders, Kevin Henry, and I hashed out the idea of this article a few weeks back. I just kept sitting here and waiting for the cascade of free agent moves that I would have thought were coming at some point. However, with less than a week until pitchers and catchers report, the last bit of the offseason has turned into a staring contest between teams and free agents … and it appears that teams are content at holding steady for now.

The National League West hasn’t been without its moves this winter, though. David Hill over at Call to the Pen gave his thoughts on Padres signing Allen Craig to minor league deal. Dodgers Way’s Michael Wittman discussed the surprising trade Dodgers pulled off a little over a month ago to unload salary. Jake Mastroianni wrote on Around the Foghorn whether or not the Giants are done making moves after their loud off-season. Yours truly wrote an article here on Rox Pile boldly declaring the Rockies’ bullpen best in the National League after all their off-season signings. Mark Brown from Call to the Pen, highlighted the Arizona Diamondbacks agreeing to terms with Alex Avila.

So let’s dive in and look at each of Colorado’s division foes and some of their moves from the offseason … and how they could impact the Rockies.

Los Angeles Dodgers

The National League West automatically gets positive marks for the best division for simply having the defending National League Champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the division. The Dodgers sported a record of 104 wins and 58 losses, good enough for the best mark in baseball in 2017.

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The Dodgers had an overall quiet offseason, which should be no surprise for a team that was just in the World Series. They did make a surprise trade by reacquiring outfielder Matt Kemp from Atlanta in exchange for first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, pitcher Brandon McCarthy, pitcher Scott Kazmir and infielder Charlie Culbertson … but this was just a money move that will have very little impact on the performance of the team.

That’s not to say the Dodgers won’t run the division … because they likely will. The Dodgers did lose Brandon Morrow, who was lights-out in his middle relief/set-up man role. As Jacob Rudner writes over at Dodgers Way, it’s not going to the season ender by any stretch. This team led the National League in team ERA, and top five in strikeouts. With a pitching staff lead by superstars, Clayton Kershaw and Kenley Jansen, the Dodgers will continue to mow down opposing batters this season, as well.

As far as the offense goes, Cody Bellinger cannot fall into a sophomore slump. After being wildly exposed in the postseason, I’m sure he’s figured out that he needs to adjust and keep progressing offensively in order to provide enough protection to Justin Turner and Corey Seager … the key to their potent offense.

San Diego Padres

Look, the San Diego Padres don’t score the National League West many points in terms of being an ultra-competitive division. However, there was absolutely no reason that the Padres shouldn’t have been the worst team in baseball last season. In fact, the season ended with six teams in the league worse than the Padres. They just don’t have much talent surrounding Wil Myers, who also struggled at times throughout the season due to lack of protection in the lineup. Yet this team, with a mix of luck and hustle, managed to defy their league worst run differential of -1.3.

There aren’t many reasons to believe that the Padres would be any worse this season, either. The front office made a series of moves this offseason in an effort to maintain while prospects move up through the system. They loaded up by bringing in names like third baseman Chase Headley and right-handed pitcher Bryan Mitchell from the Yankees, Freddy Galvis from the Phillies, and taking a shot on Jordan Lyles and Allen Craig through free agency.

San Francisco Giants

Clayton Kershaw. Rich Hill. Alex Wood. Hyun-Jin Ryu. Robbie Ray. Patrick Corbin. Tyler Anderson. Kyle Freeland. Clayton Richard. Is it just me, or does the National League West have a load of above-average to outstanding left-handed pitchers?

It appears that the San Francisco Giants noticed that, as well, by bringing in Evan Longoria, Andrew McCutchen, and Austin Jackson. After enduring their worst season in 31 years, the Giants clearly improved their offensive by adding these right-handed bats to help combat all those tough lefties. Albeit Longoria, McCutchen and Jackson are in the twilight of their respective careers, they should provide some improvement and protection around Buster Posey.

Coupled with an improved offense, we really shouldn’t be surprised to see this Giants pitching staff string together a decent amount of wins this coming season. Madison Bumgarner and Johnny Cueto, who battled health issues and off-field issues respectively, will revert back to their career norms of eating innings and putting together quality starts. Hey, Bumgarner even fed us with the ol’ spring training cliche of being in the best shape of his life already, according to Bill Baer of NBC Sports. That’s always a good sign for a team some analysts and writers are suggesting might compete for a Wild Card spot this season.

Colorado Rockies

If you have been following my work, you might have read my piece declaring that the Rockies have the best bullpen in the National League. We are less than a week away from pitchers and catchers reporting to camp … and I am sticking with that take. With the addition of Wade Davis, Bryan Shaw, Jake McGee this off-season season, and Mike Dunn and Adam Ottavino already in the pen, the Rockies are going to be darn near impossible to beat late in the game. Colorado’s game plan is to put a couple runs on the board, while getting to the bullpen early to protect their young starting pitchers.

Next: 18 things Colorado fans can look forward to in 2018

National League West competitors are going to have one heck of a time getting through Charlie Blackmon too, who became the first player in Major League Baseball history to lead the league in hits, runs scored, triples, and total bases in one season, according to Baseball-Reference.com. The Rockies still have a missing bat at first base, but there is absolutely no doubt about the other corner of the infield. Rockies NL MVP candidate third baseman, Nolan Arenado, set a career high OPS of .959 in addition to 37 home runs and 130 RBI during the 2017 campaign. Oh, and good luck hitting a ball by the guy who won his fifth Gold Glove and his first Platinum Glove at third base.