NL West to MLB: "How Do You Like Me Now, Bitches?"

It was only last year that people pointed and laughed at the National League West, believing they had no teams worthy of making the playoffs. Last August, the Diamondbacks were atop the lowly division with a 52-55 record while the NL East was loaded with quality teams. The eventual winner of the division — the Padres — ended up with an 82-80 record and made just a cameo in the playoffs, getting swept by the Cardinals.

Well, that was last year. Last year the Tigers weren't a first place team. Last year Johnny Damon wore a red jersey. Last year Leo Mazzone was rocking back and forth in Atlanta.

This year, the NL West has five teams with winning records. All five.

As for the East? Well, they're not so deep anymore. The Mets are second to the Cardinals in overall record, and the Braves and Phillies have some fight left in them, but the Marlins were completely gutted and the Nationals no longer have that new city smell. (

Also: notice that Atlanta and Philly are both one game over .500 — same as the last place Padres/Giants. Yes, the same Padres that won last year's division. Hurts my head just thinking about it.

But all five teams have pitching that range from presentable to outstanding. Of the top six ERAs in the National league, four of them are from the NL West:

1. Cardinals: 3.61
2. Dodgers: 3.70
3. Mets: 3.87
4. Padres: 4.10
5. Rockies: 4.21
6. Diamondbacks: 4.30

And if offense is your cup of tea, the two teams leading the league in runs per game also inhabit the West:

1. Dodgers: 5.5
2. Diamondbacks: 5.4
3. Reds: 5.3
4. Braves: 5.2
5. Cardinals: 5.2

So what's the cause? Is it revenge of last year's observation of "If the Phillies/Marlins/Mets/Marlins were in the NL West they would be in the playoffs?" Alas, the division is instead beating up on the NL Central. The Houston Astros, holding their own in their division, are 8-13 against the West. The Cubs are 3-12.

Arizona

Note: I'm Still trying to gather my bearings after the Orlando Hernandez trade.

The team needed help in pretty much every regard. Lineup, rotation, bullpen. The Troy Glaus trade was a thing of genius. In return from Toronto, Arizona received a second baseman (Orlando Hudson) and an old friend (starter Miguel Batista). They moved Craig Counsell to short, Chad Tracy to third, brought up Conor Jackson to play first and traded for catcher Johnny Estrada.

Article Author: Matthew T. Sussman

Sussman is the sports editor of BC Magazine and the executive editor of Technorati. He also writes for Deadspin and Toledo Free Press. He and Tuffy can be heard hosting the Treehouse Fort, Sundays at 12 noon ET. Plus, he Twitters. …

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