Is the NL west a 2 team race?

Before the season started the NL West was touted as the best division in baseball. The boasted the reigning NL champion Rockies. The defending NL West Diamondbacks who acquired Dan Haren without giving up any of their everyday Major Leaugers. The Padres who lost out on the post season during a play in game vs the Rockies. And the Dodgers who were one of the best teams until the final 6-8 weeks of the season last year.

Now this season has started and the D-Backs are clearly the best team in the NL and maybe all of baseball. Their pitching staff is outstanding. Bring in a solid bullpen and a ton of young talent with some veterans and you have a very, very good team.

The dodgers are a perfect fit for Joe Torre and his style of managing. He's a laid back manager in a laid back city that has a mix of youngsters and veterans that needed his style of managing and his appreciation for keeping things in the clubhouse.

The other 3 teams, the Padres, Rockies and Giants are 9 to 11 games back already. The Padres have zero offense. The Rockies can't get any pitching and the Giants can't get any offense either. Are these 3 teams done, and if so, is this going to be a 2 team race for the rest of the season between the Dodgers and D-backs?

I voted it is a 2 team race. I think the Rockies and Padres are done and do not have a chance of catching either the Dodgers or especially the D-backs. The D-backs pitchign will keep them from sustaining any kind of long losing streak. The Dodgers seem to have found a good chemistry amongst them which was their main reason for falling off the face of the earth lastyear.

So I believe it is a 2-team race there in the NL West.

Bump!

I think the NL West is a two team race, but technically it will probably only be a one team race all season.  The Dodgers are a good team with a lot of talent, but the Diamondbacks are just way to good in every aspect of the game to not win the NL West.  The D-Backs have an outstanding rotation, the best in baseball I would say.  And their lineup, wow.  Their lineup is capable of scoring more runs in one inning than some teams (like my Royals) score in a week.  The Dodgers can not keep up with that.

I think the Dodgers will keep winning and sort of keep pace with the Diamonbacks, but I do not think that they will get any closer than 3 games back at any given point when the season is over.  D-Backs are definitely going to win the NL West.

EMTB,

I know that the Padres and Rockies are miles behind, but I still feel once everything levels off, they'll be able to make it a race. Now, it is very unlikely that they win the division, but all they need is a Wild Card spot. But I still think the Padres have barely enough to make a run at the Diamondbacks, but they have the get started in the next couple of weeks or they are truly done.

Personally, as a Dodger homer, I have felt the Dodgers would win the division easily. And I also felt all the teams in the division were overrated and a fluke. Only team I secretly felt was any good, and a challenge, was the Diamondbacks.

And so far the Dbacks have proven me right.

Look, the Rockies won the Wild Card, they went to the World Series. They also had to win 22 our of 24 games just to get to a one game playoff...that they may or may not have actually won???? Anyways, the point is that their 22 wins to finish the season in September was amazing, but it was also a fluke. it was great what they did, but its not going to happen again.

The Padres are so overrated, its amazing anyone is even trying to argue a point for them. Peavy is the best pitcher in the NL. But the other starters arent as good as people make them out to be. The bullpen is bad, the offense is even worse. They had their run, and now are declining. What it really shows is that their farm system is really bad

And the Giants. Honestly I liked it better when they were better. Its not the same rivalry right now. But they are bad, no denying it.

Two team race, all the way to the end. The Dbacks beat the NL West easily to have an incredible record. But think about this, outside of their division, they were 1-2 against the Reds, 1-2 against the Mets, 2-2 against the Phillies. Now they got the Cubs, lets see what they can do. But they still have a great rotation, and some amazing young hitters. Like I said, they are the only team that I knew would give us a fight for the division.

The Dodgers suked hard to begin the season, then got a hot and swept the Rockies, Marlins, and then 2 fo 3 from the Rockies. Then took 2 of 3 from the Mets. Are they a streaky team, or playing at the level they should? They finally are lettin gthe kids play more and they are showing what they can do on a full time basis.

I agree that the Nl West is overrated, but I think we can all understand why after watching last year. And the Dodgers and Diamondbacks are very evenly matched, and should be great baseball to watch all year long.