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| TODAY: Monday, May 15 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lineup analysis: NL West ESPN.com | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arizona Diamondbacks
Strengths The D-Backs have no glaring holes in the lineup and have a nice mixture of power hitters, high-average hitters, lefties and righties. It's also important to note that the club did not derive an advantage from the home ballpark last season. Erubiel Durazo appears to be an emerging star and provides another power bat in the middle of the order. Even the lower end of the order should provide decent production with the right-field platoon capable of good numbers and the catching combo of Kelly Stinnett and Damian Miller doing a passable job. Weaknesses Jay Bell and Luis Gonzalez had career seasons. Steve Finley had career-highs in homers and RBI. Matt Williams had his best season in years. Gonzalez is the youngest of the foursome at 32 and it's possible (even likely) that all four players will experience dropoffs -- possibly big dropoffs. Tony Womack is a decent leadoff hitter due to his excellent basestealing ability, but keep in mind that his .334 on-base percentage was below the NL leadoff average of .349. Key How much will Bell and Gonzalez decline? Bell slugged .557; his previous best was .461. Gonzalez hit .336; his career mark is .277. Overall 1999: 908 runs scored, 1st in NL 2000: Expect a significant decline of 50-70 runs. San Francisco Giants
Strengths Six teams hit more home runs than the Giants. Six teams hit for a higher average. Yet, only two teams in the NL scored more runs than the Giants. How? Patience. The Giants drew 696 walks, third-most in the league behind the Astros and Mets. Barry Bonds had his lowest on-base percentage since 1989, but remains one of baseball's best hitters. Marvin Benard had a nice season as the leadoff hitter, although concerns about his defense may mean playing time for Calvin Murray. Only Barry Larkin can match Rich Aurilia's production among NL shortstops. Weaknesses Bonds and Ellis Burks are both 35 and missed significant time last year. Jeff Kent is 32. Catcher is in the unproven hands of Doug Mirabelli and Bobby Estallela. If Murray plays, will he hit? Russ Davis is around to potentially eat up too many at-bats. Key The core of the lineup is starting to get old. Will the aging process and injuries hold off for another year? Overall 1999: 872, 3rd in NL 2000: The Giants slugged .450 on the road, .417 at home. Their new park should be a better hitters' park and IF everyone stays healthy, the Giants could lead the league in runs scored. Los Angeles Dodgers
Strengths Gary Sheffield, Shawn Green and Eric Karros. The potential of Adrian Beltre. Weaknesses Just about everything else. Devon White is on the decline and Todd Hollandsworth may win the center field job. Problem is, Hollandsworth has a meager career OBP of .325, terrible for a leadoff hitter. Mark Grudzielanek hit .326 last year, but he's more likely to hit around his career mark of .288, which means he's pretty mediocre due to his lack of power and walks. Shortstop is an offensive black hole with Jose Vizcaino or Kevin Elster, even worse if it's Alex Cora. Key Todd Hundley. He's hitting .196 his last 500 at-bats. The power is still there, but the average is unacceptable. Overall 1999: 793, 11th in NL 2000: About the same. Could score more if Hundley produces and Beltre improves. Colorado Rockies
Strengths Larry Walker pulled off a unique "Triple Crown" last season, leading the NL in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. However, like most of the Rockies, he had a severe home/road split, hitting .461 at Coors, .286 on the road. Jeff Cirillo hit .326 in Milwaukee, which means he could battle Walker for the NL batting crown. Jeffrey Hammonds could produce Dante Bichette-like numbers. Weaknesses The Rockies were dead last in the league in runs scored on the road. Once again, their lineup will be littered with too many hackers. Neifi Perez is miserable on the road -- .287 OBP. Mike Lansing doesn't walk. Tom Goodwin is a leadoff hitter with a poor OBP (.338 career). Even Todd Helton hit only 12 of his 35 homers on the road. Key Lansing and Hammonds need to stay healthy for 140 games. Overall 1999: 906, 2nd in NL 2000: New GM Dan O'Dowd has shown a better understand of Coors Field than the previous regime, but the Rockies will still have trouble scoring enough runs on the road. San Diego Padres
Strengths The Padres have no outstanding strengths in the lineup, which is why they ranked above only the Marlins in runs scored last season. And yes, we include Tony Gwynn in that statement. Consider this: the average No. 3 hitter in the NL had a .393 OBP and .526 slugging percentage (.919 OPS). Gwynn had an .858 OPS. Even among NL right fielders, Gwynn ranked only sixth (and behind Brian Giles, who will right field this year). Weaknesses Al Martin isn't your prototypical leadoff hitter but he is the best option the Padres have right now. The main concerns are production from the No. 2 hole, whether that's Damian Jackson or Chris Gomez, and Ruben Rivera's ability to hit a curveball. The Padres need his defense in center but they don't need his .195 batting average. Key Is Phil Nevin for real? The Padres need Nevin and Klesko to reach 30 home runs. Overall 1999: 710, 15th in NL 2000: The Padres should score a few more runs but will remain one of the weaker offensive teams unless Jackson and Rivera show dramatic improvement. | ALSO SEE Lineup analysis: NL East Lineup analysis: NL Central Lineup analysis: AL East Lineup analysis: AL Central Lineup analysis: AL West  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||