Mound Musings: A Look at Pitching in the NL West

With all players reporting, baseball season is finally upon us, and real baseball is only about six weeks away. Don't worry, we'll be ready. It will be interesting to see the impact of the offseason player moves. Interestingly, I don't recall a season where so many impact players remained unsigned in late February. As in the past, I'll cover one division each week, and hopefully, we should have a value-laden pitching staff heading into the 2024 season. Things will surely change as Spring Training progresses, but we handle those on the fly. Remember, the Musings are intended to be interactive. Ask questions and share your opinions. That's what we're here for. Let's get to it and look at the:

National League West

Arizona Diamondbacks – The Diamondbacks don't look that good on paper, but they have pitching coach Brent Strom and where he leads, winning follows. The first couple spots in the rotation belong to Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly. Acquiring Gallen is something of which they can be proud. They got him a couple years ago and he has been everything they could have hoped for. Kelly is also solid, but the rest of the mound corps behind the top two is pretty nondescript. Newcomer Eduardo Rodriguez will have a spot, but he's never really excited me, albeit he has enjoyed some success, and there is the Strom factor. The final rotation spots actually look a bit interesting. The organization's top pitching prospect, Brandon Pfaadt, will likely have a spot, but the five is up for grabs. Ryne Nelson gets a slight nod over Tommy Henry with Drey Jameson out for the season following Tommy John surgery. Maybe Slade Cecconi can overtake them both. He showed good signs but he needs to miss more bats to be a good fantasy option.

The closer duties seem pretty well set. Paul Sewald isn't overly dominant, but he still knows how to get hitters out and my guess is he will again see the bulk of the ninth inning duties. Righties Kevin Ginkel, Scott McGough and Ryan Thompson will see work in the later innings, along with southpaws Kyle Nelson and Joe Mantiply. I suppose all could even be considered dark horse candidates for occasional save chances, but none of them screams closer-in-waiting.

Recapping the Diamondbacks:

The arm to own: Gallen could take yet another step forward as he just keeps improving.

He'll likely be overpriced: Rodriguez will command a pretty big price. I'm not sold.

Best of the bullpen: Sewald appears locked in as the ninth-inning guy.

Colorado Rockies – I'm not a huge fan of streaming, but no Rockies pitcher is really a good fit for any other fantasy role. Coors Field is still Coors Field, and pitchers who spend half their time there are still fantasy risks. There is some quality, but overcoming the risk is always a challenge. German Marquez is the best of the bunch, but he is expected to be out until July. At his best, he possibly has the stuff to get it done anywhere, but ideally fantasy owners can pick and choose when to have him in the lineup. Kyle Freeland is different. He doesn't have the big arm of Marquez, but I do like his mound presence. Not surprisingly, following a jaw-dropping 2018, he has failed to replicate those peripherals, but I still think he could be a bit better than he has been recently. After the top two, the options for the last few spots are huge fantasy risks. I suppose Cal Quantrill deserves some attention – I have owned him, but he is strictly a streaming option now. Austin Gomber throws a few decent innings now and then, but he's nursing a back injury and he is capable of melting down any time. They added Dakota Hudson, and he will likely take a regular turn, but he can get very hittable if he gets behind in counts and is better suited to long relief. With Antonio Senzatela out for the year, Peter Lambert and Ryan Feltner appear to be the other options for the fifth spot. Neither will help your fantasy pitching staff.

The Rockies actually tried investing heavily in their bullpen over the past few years. It has been a disaster. Those guys are pretty much gone, but the pen still appears to be a weakness. I'll give a slight edge to breaking ball junky Justin Lawrence for the ninth inning where the oft injured Tyler Kinley and ageless Daniel Bard are other options. They aren't good options, but they are bound to have a lead late in a few games, and somebody will have to pitch. I looked hard for others to at least consider. They added Anthony Molina in the Rule 5 draft, but he belongs in the minors.

Recapping the Rockies:

The arm to own: If I have to own one it would probably be Quantrill or Freeland.

He'll likely be overpriced: Marquez may get more draft day attention than he should.

Best of the bullpen: Lawrence isn't horrible, and here that's major praise.

Los Angeles Dodgers – Do you ever wonder if the rich are really getting richer? Where to start? How many teams could list Clayton Kershaw, Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May, Shohei Ohtani, and Walker Buehler on the IL, and still boast an excellent starting rotation? Welcome to Los Angeles. Ohtani and Gonsolin won't pitch this year, May and Kershaw will miss the first half, and Buehler will be eased back into the rotation following Tommy John surgery. And, we still don't know the status of free agent Julio Urias. Okay, maybe you just sign a whole new pitching staff. Money is clearly not a concern. Start with an ace like the massively risky Tyler Glasnow. He's a true No. 1, but he has never made more than 21 starts or hurled more than 120 innings in a season. My top guy is new import Yoshinobu Yamamoto, probably the best pitcher since Ohtani to come over from Japan. Also add the very talented but very brittle James Paxton. They will also feature last year's rookie standout Bobby Miller, with promising youngsters like Emmet Sheehan, Gavin Stone and Michael Grove. They even brought in veteran swingman Ryan Yarbrough, just in case. This well is seemingly bottomless.

There has been some talk that the team could pursue longtime fixture and future Hall-of-Famer Kenley Jansen but that isn't a guarantee, and the Dodgers have announced they plan to use Evan Phillips as their primary closer. He's certainly competent and injuries are a big factor in the pen overall. Experienced closers Blake Treinen and Daniel Hudson are both banged up heading into spring training. They also have another arm with some closing experience in J.P. Feyereisen, the very big arm of Brusdar Graterol, and Alex Vesia to see late in games. One more name to watch. Could the Dodgers be the team to finally unlock the potential of Dinelson Lamet?

Recapping the Dodgers:

The arm to own: I'll take Yamamoto. I've seen him pitch and he's the real deal.

He'll likely be overpriced: Kershaw's career could be inflating his price tag.

Best of the bullpen: Phillips is their guy, unless they open the checkbook again.

San Diego Padres –The Padres are a joy to analyze. They are always active, bringing in new faces and with their developmental organization and PETCO Park, you have to take a close look. I waited until the last minute on this capsule thinking maybe Blake Snell would find his way home. It hasn't happened yet, but there's still time. So, looking at a rapidly evolving rotation, first up is Yu Darvish. He was a huge disappointment, but when he has everything in sync and with an exciting young team behind him plus pitching his home games in pitcher-friendly park, Darvish is, in my eyes, a huge comeback possibility. Then you have Joe Musgrove. He put it all together when he came over from Pittsburgh in 2021, and while I think he's at or near his ceiling, he fits nicely as a No. 2 or No. 3. And, we have the recently acquired Michael King moving into the three or four spot. Is he the next new friar to turn into a star? I'm not totally convinced, but I can't rule it out. The last spot or two likely involves a choice between two other former Yankees acquired in the Juan Soto deal. Jhony Brito is my lukewarm favorite for the job while Randy Vasquez also looms as a possibility. Both might be better served working out of the bullpen. There are also a couple wildcards. Matt Waldron was competent when called upon last year, but the real dark horse is Luis Patino whom they brought back off waivers last winter. Once considered a rising star, he has never been able to consistently find the strike zone. They will need to find some depth, but re-signing Snell would be huge.

The Padres signed two Pacific Rim relief stars in Japan's Yuki Matsui and Korea's Woo-suk Go as they worked on assembling a very competent bullpen. The key to me is the fact that they gave Matsui a lot of money over quite a few (five) years. He is my choice over Go and holdover Robert Suarez, who could also see some ninth-inning work to be their primary closer. Additionally, Wandy Peralta, Enyel De Los Santos and Adrian Morejon will jointly form a solid bridge to the late innings.

Recapping the Padres:

The arm to own: Darvish is an ace and I see him returning to form in 2024.

He'll likely be overpriced: Musgrove isn't bad, but his value could be inflated.

Best of the bullpen: Lots to choose from here, but I'll give the edge to Matsui.

San Francisco Giants – San Francisco seems to be a frequent landing place for pitchers who intrigue me. That's not necessarily an endorsement, but it does make assessment more interesting. The Giants' pitching staff is engulfed in development. Logan Webb maintains leadership of the staff and he is solid enough. However, I feel like he may have reached his ceiling. I have always liked Robbie Ray. When he's healthy and on his game, he's a handful, but I feel like he should have developed more consistency. Unfortunately, he and Alex Cobb will miss the first half of the season. With them unavailable, there could be some scrambling. The rest of the probable starters are led by a pair of kids with high ceilings and lot of question marks. Kyle Harrison is a legitimate top prospect looking to make his mark, while the recently signed Jordan Hicks wants to prove he has found ongoing health and better control while moving into a starting role. You have to love Hicks' arm, and both these guys could be potential contributors in 2024. Tristan Beck probably has slight edge over Keaton Winn, and maybe even Sean Hjelle, but all are in the hunt for a fifth spot starting berth, all have some small potential for upside, and they all have one other thing in common – they probably won't help a fantasy team unless they pop a surprisingly big year.

The bullpen might offer question marks, too. The logical closer is Camilo Doval, who has electric stuff, but he has displayed command issues. I love his stuff. After Doval, things really get a bit cloudy with a chance of meatballs. Maybe they will look at one of the twin brothers Taylor Rogers or Tyler Rogers? They might be twins, but there isn't much similarity on the mound. Taylor is a southpaw and a competent closer, while Tyler is a right-handed submariner with an 82-mph fastball. I don't see Tyler being in the saves mix. Maybe recent addition southpaw Amir Garrett or Luke Jackson will get a look, but they, like Tyler, are better-suited to set-up roles.

Recapping the Giants:

The arm to own: They really need Harrison to step up, and I think he might.

He'll likely be overpriced: Cobb teases at times but even when he's healthy I am skeptical.

Best of the bullpen: Doval with his hot stuff, but he still needs better command.

Next week, we'll continue our pitching staff previews with a look at the AL Central.