Coming in to Thursday’s games, the National League West led all divisions in scoring, pounding runs in at a rate of 5.9 per game, far ahead of its nearest rival (the NL East at 5.3).That’s a startling turnaround, given that last season, the West only narrowly avoided being the least offensive division in baseball, managing just 4.4 runs per game.
In The NL West, Is Hitting The New Pitching?
↵While that may be the result of small sample size, I get the sense many of the teams may have turned their attention from pitching to hitting as a way to win. It would be no small change, because for the past decade or more, the NL West has been home to many of the best pitchers in the league. Nine of the past eleven Cy Young winners played there, and Chris Carpenter’s runner-up spot last season was the first time anyone outside the West had made the top two since 2005.
↵Now, there are still some great arms in the division, led by Tim Lincecum. But the Padres ace, Jake Peavy, is now in the American League; Arizona’s Brandon Webb is injured, with his return uncertain; and the Dodgers failed to replace Randy Wolf in their rotation with anyone worth mentioning. The Rockies have Ubaldo Jimenez, but humidor or not, Coors Field is still Coors Field.
↵Instead, the division is now home to a number of very good young hitters. Justin Upton, Pablo Sandoval, Matt Kemp, Troy Tulowitzki and Kyle Blanks are all 25 or younger and could be future MVP candidates - as soon as this season, in some cases - while the young pitching doesn’t seem to be of the same caliber overall. We’ll see how things develop, but the emphasis in 2010 might be on scoring more than the opponent, rather then allowing fewer runs.
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