San Diego Padres (74-49)
So with a NL leading 74 wins, the Padres have completely taken baseball by storm. A team projected to waver below .500, and trade its best player, Adrian Gonzalez, by the deadline, San Diego has used strong pitching and a relative lack of offense to take control in the west.
Here are the Padres' offensive production. MLB ranking in parentheses:
Batting average: .251 (24)
Home Runs: 98 (22)
Runs Batted In: 510 (17)
Hits: 1040 (25)
Not very flattering stats for the National League, if their best team is this offensively inept.
Pretty much the Padres offense consists of Adrian Gonzalez .297/25/79. Even that is a down year from what he has produced previously.
Having the best pitching staff in the majors is the only reason they are as good as they are.
Here are the Padres' pitching production. MLB ranking in parentheses:
ERA: 3.27 (1)
Strikeouts: 972 (2)
Saves: 38 (3)
WHIP: 1.22 (1)
Led by breakout start Mat Latos 13-5, 2.33 ERA, 144 K, the Pads have dominated hitters from the onset of the year. Latos is joined by double digit winners Jon Garland (13), Clayton Richard (11), and Kevin Correia (10).
At the back end they have Heath Bell and his 37 saves and 1.84 ERA. Other than his meltdown in the '09 All Star Game, he has been pretty unhittable the last few seasons.
San Francisco Giants (69-56, 6 GB)
With one of the best young pitching staffs in baseball, the Giants were a darkhorse pick to win the NL at the beginning of the season. Led by reigning 2-time Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum, and supported by the young arms of Matt Cain and Jonathan Sanchez, they were primed to make the jump to powerhouse in the West.
Not the case.
Lincecum has not been able to show the stuff that made him the NL's last 2 Cy Young winners. He is 11-8 with an un-Lincecumly high 3.72 ERA. He is still striking people out, 173, but because his team has no offense, he has to be near perfect to win.
Lincecum's sidekick Matt Cain has been a disappointment as well. He is 9-10, and hasn't been able to pick up the slack produced by a struggling Lincecum.
The offense is putrid. Led by offseason pickup and 2009 offcast, Aubrey Huff, .295/21/70, they aren't exactly as bad offensively as the Padres, but their pitching is nowhere near as dominant and that is why they are 6 games back.
Pablo Sandoval was supposed to make the jump to superstar after a 2009 season where he produced a .330/25/90 stat line. This year, the Kung Fu Panda, has regressed to a .265/10/49 line.
Colorado Rockies (63-60, 11 GB)
With Troy Tulowitzki and his Kenny Powers mullet on the DL for a good portion of the season, the Rockies have been a 2-man show for most of the season.
Led offensively by MVP candidate Carlos Gonzalez, .315/25/79 19 SB, the Rockies perform decently well in baseball's best hitters' park. Not quite the days of Larry Walker, Dante Bichette, and Andres Galarragga, but not bad.
The big story this year for the Rocks was Ubaldo Jiminez's ridiculous start to the season. With 15 wins at the All-Star break, it is safe to say that he has cooled down significantly and currently has a record of 17-4, a 2.66 ERA and 156 strikeouts. Everyone knew he wouldn't be able to keep up his original pace, but 17-4 is still pretty good and his name will definately be in consideration for a very tightly packed Cy Young race.
Los Angeles Dodgers (63-62, 12 GB)
L.A. has definately been one of the bigger disappointments in baseball this season. Blessed with one of the best outfields in the game, along with a strong young pitching staff and a dominant closer, the Dodgers were poised to make a run at the NL pennant.
Didn't happen.
Andre Ethier got off to a torid start, but was derailed by an injury that put a stop to his ridiculous beginning.
Matt Kemp has not lived up to his reputation as one of the games top young player. I guess it's tough to be the replacement to Chris Brown and his wicked left hook.
Manny has been Manny, in terms of taking games off. This time it has been due to injury. We might just be at the end of the line for one of the games top hitters.
The staff has been anchored by budding star Clayton Kershaw who has 11 wins a 3.03 ERA and 163 K. For the most part, he has been the only bright spot in the rotation.
Jonathon Broxton, a top closer the past few seasons, has recently let his hold on the closer role slip through his fingers. With recent struggles he has had to see the likes of Hong Kong Fooie and Octavio Dotel steal his ninth inning spotlight.
Arizona Diamondbacks (49-76, 26 GB)
Just not a very good team. They have a little power and rank fifth in the majors with 143, but that's about it.
Long gone are the days of Schilling and Johnson dominating in the desert. The team is 30th in ERA at 5.04. Ian Kennedy leads the staff with a 4.41 ERA.
When you can't hit for anything but power, and give up more than 5 runs per 9 innings, you just aren't going to win many games.
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