Subscribe to SI
Give the Gift of SI
Extra MustardSI On CampusFantasyPhoto GalleriesSwimsuitVideoFanNationSI KidsTNT
Back to Baseball Fungoes Blog Homepage
Keep up with the latest news, notes and developments with Fungoes, a daily journal for all things baseball that will last all season long.
9/04/2007 09:10:00 AM

NL West: League's Best Division

by Jon Weisman

The NL West was far from the league's doormat this year. NL East teams are 69-93 against the NL West, with only Atlanta (19-14) having a winning record. NL Central teams are 85-97 against the NL West, with only St. Louis (15-14) having a winning record.

That will be of little consolation if the relative weakness of the other two NL divisions makes it easier for one of their teams -- most likely Philadelphia -- to grab the wild card. As the season heads into its final four weeks, here are the schedule challenges facing the four NL West playoff contenders:

San Diego: Monday, the Padres played (and won) the first of nine consecutive road games against their three closest divisional pursuers. After handling that stretch, they earn the relative reward of seven home games against two last-place teams, San Francisco and Pittsburgh. San Diego wraps up its home schedule this season with three against Colorado, then finishes on the road against the Giants and Milwaukee.

Arizona: The Diamondbacks, who have lost 10 of their past 15 games immediately after dropping only 10 of their previous 33, will also finish their season on the road, at Pittsburgh and Colorado. Arizona gets its last direct shot against the Padres today and Wednesday (ace Jake Peavy might take that start on three days' rest for San Diego, according to Corey Brock of MLB.com, but the Diamondbacks play the Dodgers six more times.

Los Angeles: After finishing their current four-game series in Chicago on Thursday, the Dodgers will stay in the NL West for the remainder of the regular season. A three-game series in Los Angeles against the Padres on Sept. 11-13 potentially looms large, but if San Diego starts to run away with the division, the Dodgers certainly will have a chance to make or break their wild-card destiny with 13 consecutive games against Arizona and Colorado. Los Angeles finishes at home against their weak but oft-vexing rivals, the Giants.

Colorado: Enjoy San Francisco, Rockies fans. After the Giants leave Wednesday, it's seven games in a row against the Padres and Phillies, the latter four in Philadelphia. After a three-game detour with Florida, Colorado will have an extended shot against its NL West rivals, finishing the season with 13 games with the Dodgers, Padres and Diamondbacks.

Any team that aspires to take the NL wild card might want to make their move early. Seven of Philadelphia's final 10 games are against the struggling Washington Nationals.



  • The showdown between Arizona and San Diego on Monday was played in a bit of an echo chamber, noted Bob Timmermann of The Griddle. Neither team televised the game.

    When the two teams played four games in San Diego last week, the most tickets sold for any contest was 29,021, Timmermann added. Stadium capacity at Petco Park is approximately 46,000.


  • San Francisco's Omar Vizquel suspects his hitting struggles (.305 on-base percentage, .301 slugging percentage) will cost him a chance at his record-tying 13th Gold Glove for a shortstop, according to Thomas Harding of MLB.com. It's no secret that Gold Glove voters are strangely influenced by a player's offensive production. Vizquel will be a free agent this winter.

    Keystone-mate Ray Durham (.302 on-base percentage -- .267 since the All-Star Break) is also struggling, and Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News wrote that Kevin Frandsen will grab much of the 35-year-old Durham's playing time down the stretch.

    "Let the kid play," Durham said with what Baggarly called "a bit of emotion in his voice."

    Unlike Vizquel, Durham is due $7 million from San Francisco in 2008, Baggarly noted.


    • What players would belong on the NL West's all-glove team? Leave your answers in the comments below.

    Labels:

    posted by SI.com | View comments |  

    Comments:

    Post a Comment
    Posted: September 4, 2007 11:47 AM   by Vishal
    c: russell martin
    1b: adrian gonzalez, maybe
    2b: orlando hudson
    3b: probably pedro feliz
    ss: troy tulowitzki
    cf: um, willy taveras?
    lf: eric byrnes
    rf: randy winn, perhaps
    p: i have no idea
    Posted: September 4, 2007 4:41 PM   by Anonymous
    NL West all-glove team? Orlando Hudson.
    Posted: September 5, 2007 8:53 AM   by Anonymous
    C: Martin
    1B: Adrian Gonzalez
    2B: Orlando Hudson
    SS: Kahlil Greene
    3B: Nomar Garciaparra
    LF: Eric Byrnes
    CF: Mike Cameron
    RF: Brian Giles
    Posted: September 5, 2007 11:01 AM   by Anonymous
    C: Russell Martin
    1B: Adrian Gonzalez
    2B: Orlando Hudson
    SS: Khalil Greene
    3B: Pedro Feliz
    LF: Eric Byrnes
    CF: Mike Cameron
    RF: Brian Giles
    P: Greg Maddux
    Posted: September 5, 2007 12:25 PM   by Anonymous
    Gonzalez at first? You guys kidding??

    c: Martin
    1B: Todd Helton
    2B: Hudson
    3B: Feliz
    SS: Tulowitzki (one of the best fielding seasons for a shortstop, EVER!)
    CF: Mike Cameron
    LF: Byrnes
    RF: Matt Holliday (much improved)
    P: Greg Maddux
    Posted: September 5, 2007 4:56 PM   by Anonymous
    C: russell martin
    1B: james loney
    2B: orlando hudson
    3B: pedro feliz
    SS: rafael furcal
    CF: mike cameron
    LF: andre ethier
    RF: matt kemp
    P: greg maddux
    Post a Comment
    Fungoes Blog Homepage
    divider line
    Search