Through the first 10 days of the season, when the other MLB divisions are starting to form their winners and losers, the NL West is still a complete enigma. Only two games separate the division’s leader from its cellar dweller.
With that in mind, I’m going to play two truths and a lie and see if we can make some sense of the NL West’s Los Angeles Dodgers, Arizona Diamondbacks, and San Diego Padres.
Truth: The San Diego Padres will win the NL West
In just a few days, on April 20, Fernando Tatis Jr., will return to the show. His return is huge for the Padres as Tatis is considered one of the best in baseball and, at just 24 years old, baseball fans have only started to see flashes of what he can do.
The Padres are spending nearly a billion dollars to surround their homegrown talent (Tatis Jr.) with the firepower he will need to win a World Series. Xander Bogaerts and Nelson Cruz are off to hot starts with five home runs and 17 RBI. Juan Soto has seven runs already this season, even with an annoying oblique issue, and Manny Machado is batting .308. On the pitching side, Seth Lugo has been outstanding, with 12 strikeouts and a 1.38 ERA in two starts.
Watch Lugo catch the Braves with a nasty curveball.below.
Seth Lugo, 3478 RPM Curveball. 😲 pic.twitter.com/Y7m23TSWK8
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 9, 2023
The Padres are a lot better than their current record shows. Currently in second place in the NL West at 6-4, the record is not an accurate reflection of their play. However, the +8 run differential is a bit more telling of how good the Padres will be this season and, with Tatis Jr. back in the stacked lineup, they will be hard to beat this year. The truth is the Padres will win the NL West.