How Will NL West Race Finish For Los Angeles Dodgers And Rivals?

Predicting How Los Angeles Dodgers and Rest of Division will Finish in NL West

With just about 50 games remaining in the MLB regular season, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the rest of the NL West are focusing on the prize to be won: the division crown.

Each of the NL West teams will likely need to win the division in order to earn a spot in the playoffs. Even with the addition of a second Wild Card spot in 2012, the NL West’s performance as a whole has not been on par with the caliber of play of the leading Wild Card teams.

Although the NL West has received an unjust label as the worst division in baseball in 2013, there is some merit to the idea. Unlike most of the other MLB divisions, the NL West is not polarized with one or two dominant teams and one or two terrible teams. The Dodgers currently have the best record in the division at 62-50, only six games behind the Pittsburgh Pirates' MLB-best record. On the other end of the spectrum, the slumping San Francisco Giants have stooped to a division-worst 50-62 record. However, the Giants’ .446 win percentage puts them ahead of six major league teams, and San Francisco could be in third place in two divisions.

As a collective group, the NL West has about a 48 percent win percentage, which makes them the fourth-strongest division in that category, ahead of the NL East and AL West. The NL West is better balanced than most, but with three teams under .500 and one team only one team above .500, the rest of MLB looks down upon the division.

The Arizona Diamondbacks are currently sitting 4.5 games back in the Wild Card race, which is realistically down to only one spot. With the St. Louis Cardinals standing five games ahead of the team in second and nine games ahead of the Diamondbacks, they have all but locked up the first Wild Card spot. It's not out of the question for the NL West to earn a second-chance pass to get into the playoffs, but if the rest of the division continues its slumping ways, expect the division leader to be the only playoff representative.

With the playoff and Wild Card scenarios covered, it is time to address the only question remaining: “How will the NL West teams finish the season, and which will make the playoffs?” So, let’s dive in to the list and see who will be spraying the champagne after winning the NL West.

Isaac Comelli is a Los Angeles Dodgers writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @IsaacComelli, “Like” him on Facebook or follow him on Google.

Fifth Place – Colorado Rockies

The Colorado Rockies currently find themselves in fourth place in the NL West, but have been slumping mightily. The Rockies have not had a single month over .500 since April and hold a record of 11-20 in the months of July and August combined. With this continual collapse, Colorado will be unable to surge and will end up last in the division.

Fourth Place – San Diego Padres

Although the San Diego Padres currently sit in third place in the NL West, they hold only a slim, 1.5-game lead over the last-place Giants. The Padres went on a mini hot streak towards the end of July and into August, going 9-4 over a 13-game stretch. Nevertheless, the Padres will not be able to reproduce those kinds of runs enough times to climb the NL West ladder.

Third Place – San Francisco Giants

The Giants started the season well, winning a little over 50 percent of their games for the first two months. In June and July, the Giants slumped and slumped hard, winning less than 35 percent of their games over that span. Further, the Giants have a tough schedule to close out the season, with half of their final 16 series opponents boasting records above .500. But the Giants have stud pitchers throughout their staff and can certainly make a run if their bats come alive. I believe they have a long shot chance to get second in the NL West, but all likelihood suggests they will finish in the middle of the pack.

Second Place – Arizona Diamondbacks

While the Diamondbacks impress me with their 22-15 record in one-run games, I believe that they will not have what it takes to push to the top spot in the NL West. Part of the issue with that statistic is that it does not reflect Arizona’s recent performance well. In their last 18 games, the Diamondbacks are 7-11 and have been hot or cold. On back-to-back nights, they won a game by 10 and then lost the next by nine. In order to make the final run to win the division, a team needs to be consistent. Arizona’s strength of schedule is not very high in the last stretch of the season, but I believe they will not get the job done.

First Place – Los Angeles Dodgers

With the current hot streak the Dodgers are on, it is difficult not to have faith that they will finish the job and win the NL West. When the Blue Crew first started their run, I urged Dodger fans to remain calm and remember that it is a long season. At only 10 or 20 games into a good run, fans must temper their excitement. Now, 40 games into the run, the Dodgers are 32-8 since June 21, which also happens to be the last date the team lost back-to-back games. With results like that over such a long period, I find it hard to believe they can be slowed down enough to be caught by their divisional foes.

The Dodgers’ final 20 games are all against NL West opponents, including seven games in only 11 days against the Diamondbacks. There are guaranteed to be some dramatic games at the end of this season, and I look forward to seeing if the Dodgers can prove me right and win the NL West.

That does it for my list, and I would love to hear which teams you agree or disagree about, so please leave a comment!