Escobar None

So, the plot certainly has thickened in this Musical Chairs round that is the NL West race.

The Rockies currently have the division (I'm writing this on Tuesday, so maybe they still do?), with the Dodgers a half-game behind, and the D-Backs, who've been on first for most of the year, trailing by a few games. Currently, neither the Dodgers or Diamondbacks are within reach of the two Wild Card spots, which are both currently held by NL Central teams (Brewers and Cardinals). Still, these teams are close enough to the battle that they've not been ruled out yet, similar to the Phillies, who are 3.5 games back, and while they probably won't make it, they still have a chance.

But let's talk about Arizona here, because they're the most startling members of this race. For most of the year, they were in first, and rightfully so. However, they lost four games in a row earlier this week, and the Dodgers and Rox took full advantage of this. And it's not like there was a huge shift in injuries, or anything prompted this: the D-Backs were just unlucky consistently at the exact wrong time.

This team still has a ton of promise, and it helps that Paul Goldschmidt is playing like himself again. The rotation is still sharp, especially with Clay Buchholz healthy again. The addition of Eduardo Escobar has definitely helped. The main problems are the lack of bench depth and the back end of the rotation. This team isn't as wholly strong as it was last year, and they're losing a lot of games off of silly little things.

And I want them to make it back into the playoffs, but I don't know if ending in first is a feasible option at this point. Their goal this season was to prevent the Dodgers from making a late run, and they've failed. The Dodgers have a nice shot at making it back into the playoffs, and the D-Backs may not have a place there if so. And that's a sad statement for a team that I thought was all in this year.

Coming Tomorrow- He was listless for the Pirates. He lands in Tampa and becomes unstoppable.