The NL West is Baseball’s Dream Division
Unexpectedly, but at the same, inevitably, the NL West has transformed into the must-see division in baseball.
What do the three best teams in the National League have in common? I’ll give you a hint, they are all in the NL West.
If they playoffs were to begin today, the Los Angeles Dodgers would take the division, and the Arizona Diamondbacks (1.5 games back) would take on the Rockies (5.5 games back) in the NL Wild Card game. All of the other NL hopefuls are doomed, and by great measure — the Cubs, who are one game behind the first place Brewers in the NL Central, are currently third in line for a Wild Card spot, and trail the Diamondbacks and Rockies by eight-and-a-half games…
The NL West is usually a showdown between the Dodgers and Giants, and Los Angeles being twenty-four games over .500 in June is not that surprising, because, well, they are all around a solid team. But what is surprising is that the Giants’ collapse (SF sits with the second-worst record in baseball, yikes) has allowed the Diamondbacks and the Rockies to get into the race while surging back from sub-.500 seasons.
It’s only June, but if you want competitive, high-stakes baseball this season, the NL West is shaping up to be your best bet. The AL West and NL East are effectively locked up already; the AL East promises yet another race between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox; and the AL Central is just waiting on Cleveland to leave the Minnesota Twins in the dust.
There are few things in baseball better than the frantic sprint to the finish line to win a division title, and it’s all more fun when their are three teams
involved instead of two. All three teams have been great in 2017, but none of them seem likely to run away with it, which is good news for fans that want to see this race continue into September.
And it’s not just that the division is close, the actual baseball being played out there is incredibly entertaining. Here are some wild things that just happened:
- In just 58 games, 21-year-old Cody Bellinger leads the NL (second in MLB behind Aaron Judge) with a total of 24 home runs.
- Last week, Rockies’ third baseman Nolan Arenado downed the Giants with a walk-off home run that also gave him a cycle. He then came out of the postgame scrum with blood all over his face.
- And on Father’s Day, Diamondbacks rookie Ray Fuentes won a game with his first career home run, he later sent the ball to his dad back in Puerto Rico.
So, if you ever find yourself feeling uninspired by the baseball being played around the country, try to stay up and catch a few games in the NL West throughout these upcoming months. Because there is really nothing like the sweet smell of competitive baseball.
