You can never rule the Rockies out. They always seem to catch fire towards the end of the season. With Tulo back they could start winning games at a very fast rate again.
Giants have been hanging around all year long and with the addition of Posey their line up is not so weak anymore. With Lincecum and Cain at the top of that rotation they are dangerous.
Dodgers have probably the toughest schedule left in that division. If they can get Manny back quickly and their pitching can keep up its recent success they have as good as chance as anyone in the division.
And now the Padres... My opinion may be a bit biased but by no means is this a stretch. The Padres are a younger team and younger teams get tired as the year wears down on them. Especially their young pitching. Some of these guys haven't pitched this many innings before. I think fatigue is going to set in and you will see starting in August the Padres are going to start to slowly fade off. Arm injuries are not going to be "unlucky" or a "fluke". Be careful in betting them in "futures". They are hitting out of their elements right now and when times get tough they are going to sink fast. Teams do not stay as hot as they have been all year. It just doesn't happen. Their flash in the pan has lasted longer than I thought but August is their D-Day. My guess is they will not be leading the west after August. I cannot tell you who it is going to be but it wont be them.
John Garland (ace)'nt - Heard an interesting stat from Vinny the other night. Allows half of his runs in the first 3 innings. He cannot keep this up. His sinker did look pretty nasty two nights ago but with him as the ace I would be worried if I was a Padre fan.
Latos - Threw 50 innings last year in the bigs. Mark my word he will fade off.
Kevin (5 era) Correia - Well if he keeps that up that sure won't help them much
Clayon Richard - Is already at 130 innings his previous high in the MLB was 80. He too is fading fast
Wade LeBlanc - Previous high of 46 innings in the MLB. Currently at 104. He will wear down soon
Very good chance the Wild card could come from this division.
Giants have been hanging around all year long and with the addition of Posey their line up is not so weak anymore. With Lincecum and Cain at the top of that rotation they are dangerous.
Dodgers have probably the toughest schedule left in that division. If they can get Manny back quickly and their pitching can keep up its recent success they have as good as chance as anyone in the division.
And now the Padres... My opinion may be a bit biased but by no means is this a stretch. The Padres are a younger team and younger teams get tired as the year wears down on them. Especially their young pitching. Some of these guys haven't pitched this many innings before. I think fatigue is going to set in and you will see starting in August the Padres are going to start to slowly fade off. Arm injuries are not going to be "unlucky" or a "fluke". Be careful in betting them in "futures". They are hitting out of their elements right now and when times get tough they are going to sink fast. Teams do not stay as hot as they have been all year. It just doesn't happen. Their flash in the pan has lasted longer than I thought but August is their D-Day. My guess is they will not be leading the west after August. I cannot tell you who it is going to be but it wont be them.
John Garland (ace)'nt - Heard an interesting stat from Vinny the other night. Allows half of his runs in the first 3 innings. He cannot keep this up. His sinker did look pretty nasty two nights ago but with him as the ace I would be worried if I was a Padre fan.
Latos - Threw 50 innings last year in the bigs. Mark my word he will fade off.
Kevin (5 era) Correia - Well if he keeps that up that sure won't help them much
Clayon Richard - Is already at 130 innings his previous high in the MLB was 80. He too is fading fast
Wade LeBlanc - Previous high of 46 innings in the MLB. Currently at 104. He will wear down soon
Very good chance the Wild card could come from this division.
