The NL West, it’s been in a stranglehold for the last decade and it’s safe to say the two teams that aren’t going to be ending the streak. But I think two teams might have the juice to hang around for a while.

1st Place — Los Angeles Dodgers (14-4, 5-1 L7 Days)

In a surprise to absolutely nobody the Dodgers have the best run differential in baseball as of publishing, and there’s really only one team even in their stratosphere (the wagons, I mean the Atlanta Braves)

But one thing that is surprising, at least to me, is that their best hitter isn’t Shohei Ohtani (5 HR, .910 OPS) instead it’s Andy Pages (leads the league with 27 Hits, 20 RBI, and BA at .409).

They lead the league in runs per game without mega-free agent Kyle Tucker even achieving a .700 OPS. Even Mookie prior to IL stint was batting under .200.

They are dominating the sport on all fronts. Shohei while not the best statistical hitter is certainly leading the MVP race with his 0.50 ERA on top of his amazing hitting stat line. Yoshi is dominating too (2.10 ERA) and newest addition to the rotation Justin Wrobleski (2.12 ERA) has ascended to yet another front-line option after an 8 IP masterclass against the feeble Mets.

They have the 7th best bullpen by ERA to boot.

This team is once again a freakshow, but it’s the best one money can buy, and they’ve got a culture that it can’t.

Hard not to see them lacing it up for their 3rd straight World Series. They have a 3 game set with the Rockies upcoming so don’t expect this freight train to stop anytime soon.

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2nd Place — San Diego Padres (12-6, 6-0 L7 Days)

Maybe no team in baseball is hotter than the Padres. In the last week they’ve swept both the Rockies and the Mariners. While not the MOST impressive opponents, they also beat the NL Central leading Pirates 2 games to 1 in Pittsburgh prior to that.

They’re on an 8 game winning streak and it’s got me wondering how seriously I need to take them as a contender in the National League at large.

They have 3 hitters with an OPS over 1.000 over the last week (Merrill, Bogaerts, and Laureano). They have the 3rd best Bullpen ERA in the sport. The arrow is point up… so why don’t I feel the excitement?

Certainly it isn’t all Dodgers related, there are 3 wildcard spots and a clear path to an NLCS if they handle business.

But I think the Nick Pivetta elbow strain really has me questioning whether or not they have the horses for 162.

Walker Buehler and German Marquez as your 4/5 is scary, the prospect of them as your 3 and 4 is terrifying.

Obviously if they can get to the deadline strong they can add what they’re missing, but we are a long ways away from late July.

The road ahead are the Angels and Rockies, so they have ample opportunity to add to the streak and give them a head start in the wild card race

But at the end of the day, Mason Miller is a fucking menace, so maybe I need to fall in line.

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3rd Place — Arizona Diamondbacks (11-8, 4-2 L7 Days)

Now… coming off the last write up, you surely must be wondering, “if he doesn’t believe in the Padres, surely he doesn’t believe in the DBacks”

That’s where you’d be wrong inner monologue. For a reason I can’t really describe I have blind faith in this team to figure it out.

There really aren’t statistics that point to that, per se. They’re a -4 run differential just short of the 20 game mark, they’re bottom half of the league in runs per game, and one of the 10 worst bullpens by ERA in the whole sport.

So where is my confidence coming from? Besides pure vibes — I don’t quite know!

But some players, and by extension some teams, just know how to win. They’re winning games where only Corbin Carroll (1.001 OPS) and ILDEMARO VARGAS (1.068 OPS) are hitting.

Marte, Perdomo, and Thomas haven’t hit A LICK. But they’re still a team over .500.

Their starting staff have turned into the best versions of themselves — E-Rod (1.96 ERA), Soroka (2.87), and Gallen (3.60) are pitching like they know they need to carry the team right now, and they are.

Can it continue? A realist might say no. But the optimist and vibe checker in me is saying to keep believing. They’ve got the Blue Jays and White Sox in town this next week, so it’s time to see if they can keep putting it on struggling teams.

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4th Place — San Francisco Giants (7-12, 2-4 L7 Days)

What do you get when you combine a college coach that is woefully in over his head and the worst offense in the sport?

It’s the San Francisco Giants.

They are ranked 30th in Runs, Home Runs, Stolen Bases, and I’m sure many other offensive statistics. Despite salvaging the Reds series (avoiding the sweep) there’s just such limited hope when looking at this lineup.

Positive regression almost has to set in for SOMEBODY, but whatever good vibes I get off the Diamondbacks, I get the exact opposite radiating from the Giants.

To boot, they’ve also allowed the most runs in the division!

If you begged me for good news on this team, genuinely the best I could offer you is that your backup catcher, Daniel Susac, is a fucking electric factory (1.338 OPS… in 17 ABs). Maybe I could feed you some Matt Gage propaganda?

I don’t know here guys. You wanted to exit .500 but I think this team is showing that the unknown isn’t always a positive.

Their next sets are against the 2 best offenses in Runs per Game in baseball over the next two series (Nationals [←okay?] and Dodgers)

Surely that will go well

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5th Place — Colorado Rockies (6-12, 1-5 L7 Days)

I’m glad I got to write about the sweep of the Houston sweep. Because they’re 1-6 since (including losing 2/3 to those same Astros).

But how on earth have you been worse than the GIANTS!?

Well unfortunately the bats have gone silent. Goodman, their star catcher is leading the MLB in strikeouts (29 in 63 AB). They don’t have any disaster hitters but they also don’t really have any exciting regulars, 3 of their 5 starters have ERA’s above 5.60.

The only strong part of this roster is a Top 5 bullpen, but they can’t hand them leads to even hold right now!

I’m not going to harp on this team. We expected a struggle. And they still have a chance to make an impact this week, as the Dodgers and the Padres are on the docket.

Maybe they can help steal some momentum from the runaway teams at the top.

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Mike Trout celebration will continue until morale imporves

He became the first player in history to hit 5 home runs in a 4 game series in the Bronx, AND the first to ever in 4 consecutive games in Yankee Stadium.

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The benches cleared when the Giants struck out Sal Stewart to beat the Reds

And honestly? Good on Miller. Fuck them kids.

This all stemmed from the plunking of Spencer Steer in the 2nd inning, after the PRIOR plunking of Spencer Steer in the 8th inning the night before.

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If you’re a Rangers fan look away, if you’re not enjoy this ridiculous way to lose a baseball game

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I’m not panicking about Konner Griffin… but come on man

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Pat Murphy copied the Nationals whole fuckin flow

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Junior Caminero had one of the more… expressive… home run trots you’ll ever see

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Have a dick joke to start your day

Make it great everybody. Happy Friday