First Quarter Report - NL West
Jun 10th, 2007 by winabango
I have gone from the worst division in baseball to possibly the most competitive division from top to bottom. The NL West has the great mix of young players, and pitching studs. It also includes some guy chasing the most haloed record in baseball. So let’s take a look at the NL West.
Surprise Player
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B SD - A first round pick should never surprise anyone when they make it to the majors, but I had no idea that he would have posted 12 homeruns and still post a .300 batting average this year. This guy is for real.
Disappointing Player
Garrett Atkins, 3B COL - After a breakout season last year, everyone expected Atkins to continue his development in his “magical” age 27 season. However this did not happen, and a batting average just over .220 during the first quarter has made many owners sick to their stomachs.
Most Costly Injury to Owners
Jason Schmidt, SP LAD - There were not many significant injuries in this division, but Schmidt missed most of the first quarter of the season. Many owners gave up on him during his stint on the DL, because of the extent of his injury. He returned the other night and looked very good in his first start.
Player to Watch
Kaz Matsui, 2B COL - Matsui is possibly going to make an impact like the scouts said that always could. Getting out of New York was the best thing for him. He started the season very strong and then was injured. Now he is back and probably will pickup were he left off. He may be in the top 5 2nd basemen during the 2nd quarter.
Team Stats
Most runs scored - San Francisco (258))
Most Homeruns - San Diego (51)
Most Walks - Colorado (222)
Most Strikeouts - San Diego (439)
Lowest Team ERA - San Diego (2.88)
Lowest Opponent Batting AVE - San Diego (.290)
Most Strikeouts - Los Angles (448)
Best Fielding Percentage - Colorado (.990)
Most Double Plays - Colorado (69)
Most Errors - Los Angeles (45)
Obviously San Diego is a free swinging team with the best overall pitching staff, and some guy named Peavy. The advantage of the NL West is that three of the parks are pitcher parks, and the other two are hitter’s parks. So you know what you are going to get in park factors. Watch for Colorado to start playing extremely well during the second quarter of the season.
who would you drop at this point??
weeks, ramon hernandez, braun, phil hughes.
In a keeper league ramon hernandez. in a non keeper, Hughes. Braun is the best player that you listed.
Kelly
the Giants lead the division in runs scored?? in that ballpark? with that lineup?
At the time that I wrote the article, yes. Keep in mind that they were 20th overall in the league. Here are the current standings for the West
LA Dodgers (279 runs)(19th overall)
SD Padres (274 runs) (20th overall)
SF Giants (273 runs) (21st overall)
AZ Diamondbacks (270 runs) (22nd overall)
CO Rockies (269 runs) (23rd overall)
That should give you an idea as to how weak the offenses are in the West, and how strong the pitching is.