NL West looms as toughest division in majors

The National League West arguably is the toughest division in baseball. Last year, three teams made the postseason with the Dodgers losing to the Astros in the World Series.

Now, can the Dodgers win another title by fighting off a World Series hangover after losing Game 7 to Houston in November? Do they have enough pitching to have a second consecutive triple-digit win season? And will Clayton Kershaw stay away from back injuries?

The Rockies are trying to prove they're here to stay after 87 victories last season.

Arizona has a punishing offense and a deep rotation. Do the Giants have enough pitching after Madison Bumgarner and Johnny Cueto?

San Diego signed first baseman Eric Hosmer to lead a group of talented players. The Padres are on the move.

Prediction: Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Rockies, Giants, Padres.

Here's what's going on in the NL West:

ARIZONA: The Diamondbacks, with a club payroll of $130 million, went from 69 wins in 2016 to 93 wins in 2017 because of a steady rotation that took stress off the bullpen. ... The Diamondbacks lost out on OF J.D. Martinez, who went to Boston, and replaced him with former Nationals prospect Steven Souza Jr., who hit 30 home runs in 2017 for the Rays despite a slow September where he admitted that he was worn out. Playing in Chase Field, Souza can hit 35 home runs. ... Souza will play right field with David Peralta moving to left. A.J. Pollock plays center. Pollock and Peralta each hit 14 home runs last season. ... The lineup has 1B Paul Goldschmidt, who hit .297-36-126 last season and is a yearly NL MVP candidate. ... Chase Field's reputation as a hitter's ballpark could change this year. Like the Rockies in Colorado, the Diamondbacks are going to store baseball in a humidor to keep them from flying out of the ballpark. ... The pitching made a dramatic improvement in 2017. The rotation ranked fourth in the majors with 941 1/3 innings after finishing 20th in 2016. RHP Zack Greinke (3.20 ERA) and LHP Robbie Ray (2.89 ERA) lead a rotation that also has RHPs Taijuan Walker (3.49 ERA) and Zack Godley, who came out of nowhere and had a 3.37 ERA in 26 appearances, including 25 starts. LHP Patrick Corbin's ERA was 4.03. Ray is a candidate to be the top lefty in the NL. ... Manager Torey Lovullo is in his second season as the Arizona manager.

COLORADO: The Rockies, who finished one game ahead of Milwaukee for the second NL wild-card spot in 2017 and lost 11-8 to Arizona in the one-game playoff, are led by 3B Nolan Arenado, 26, arguably one of the top five players in the game because of his consistent bat and defense. He's won five Gold Gloves, two league RBI crowns and two home run titles, and made three All-Star teams. He's a career .290 hitter with 148 home runs and a .340 on-base percentage. ... SS Trevor Story is an all-or-nothing player with 24 home runs and 191 strikeouts last season. ... The new closer is RHP Wade Davis, who had 32 consecutive saves in one stretch for the Cubs last season, and the new setup guy is RHP Bryan Shaw, who is the first pitcher to have 70 appearances in five consecutive seasons since Joe Smith in 2011-2015. Shaw did it with Cleveland and had a 3.11 ERA during that time. Shaw and LHP Jake McGee will set up Davis. ... The top of the rotation has RHP Jon Gray, a power pitcher who throws in the high 90s, and RHP Chad Bettis, a ground-ball pitcher who lost most of last season battling cancer. ... LHP Tyler Anderson, a changeup pitcher, is also in the rotation along with LHP Kyle Freeland and RHP German Marquez, who has a power arm. ... CF Charlie Blackmon, the 2017 NL batting champion at .331, is in the outfield, which will also have a familiar face, Carlos Gonzalez, a free agent who signed late. He's been with the Rockies since 2010. ... LF Ian Desmond, a former National, hit seven home runs with 40 RBI last season and is coming back from injuries. Looks like the $70 million contract the Rockies gave him was a mistake.

LOS ANGELES: The Dodgers have been to the postseason nine of the last 14 seasons and haven't won a World Series since 1988. ... 3B Justin Turner suffered a non-displaced fracture of his left wrist when he was hit by a pitch from the A's Kendall Graveman last night and will start the season on the disabled list, which forces the Dodgers to adjust without their No. 3 hitter in the lineup. ... Kershaw, who has been on the disabled list with back issues in each of last two seasons, will be making his eighth opening-day start with the potential of being a free agent after the season. The rest of the rotation includes LHP Rich Hill, RHP Kenta Maeda and LHPs Hyun-Jin Ryu and Alex Wood, an All-Star who had a 1.67 ERA before the break. ... Ryu, who has constantly battled injuries, had a 3.17 ERA in his last 11 starts in 2017. What will the Dodgers get from Hill at age 37? Last year, Hill had 12 wins and a 3.32 ERA. .... The closer is RHP Kenley Jansen, probably the best closer in the game. He's a power pitcher with has 88 saves in the last two seasons. ... Turner had 59 walks and 56 strikeouts in 2017, and 1B Cody Bellinger, who hit 39 home runs as a rookie last year, is entrenched at first base .... SS Corey Seager, a potential NL MVP candidate, hit .295-22-77 last season. ... CF Chris Taylor, a former shortstop, had a breakout season with power and steals. Last year, Taylor hit .288 with 21 home runs and 72 RBIs. ... After years of discipline issues, RF Yaisel Puig is coming into his own. He hit 28 home runs with 15 steals last season and his rocket arm is a huge defensive asset.

SAN DIEGO: The Padres added Hosmer on an eight-year $144 million deal, the largest contract in Padres history, a move similar to the Nationals signing OF Jayson Werth in 2011 at a time when they were rebuilding. ... Hosmer's arrival means Wil Myers, his former minor league teammate in the Royals organization, moves to the outfield. Hosmer, 28, has two seasons of a career-high 25 home runs with the Royals. ... By all accounts, the Padres system is loaded with talent, including CF Manuel Margot, RF Hunter Renfroe and 2B Carlos Asuaje. Asuaje and Margot came from the Red Sox in a trade for RHP Craig Kimbrel. ... Margot is their top prospect and has power speed. He hit 13 home runs with 17 steals last season for the Padres. ... Renfroe was the Triple-A Pacific Coast League MVP hitting .306/.336/.557 with 30 home runs last season. ... Asuaje is a lefty line-drive hitter that plays second and has potential to hit with double-digit power. ... In the rotation, the Padres will be seeing a lot of RHP Dinelson Lamet, a 6-foot-4 pitcher with a 95 mph-plus fastball, strong slider and a developing changeup. ... LHP Clayton Richard and RHP Luis Perdomo will also be in the rotation. ... Richard, 34, led the Padres with 197 1/3 innings last season with two complete games, but he also gave up a NL-leading 240 hits. ... C Austin Hedges has established himself as one of the best young catchers in the game. He hit .326 with 20 home runs in 2017.

SAN FRANCISCO: After a 98-loss season in 2017, the Giants acquired OF Andrew McCutchen and 3B Evan Longoria to take another run at contending with their core players - SS Brandon Crawford, Bumgarner and C Buster Posey. ... Will the Giants return to their contending ways, when they won the World Series three times, or will the 2017 season be a sign of things to come? ... Are McCutchen, 31, and Longoria, 32, past their prime? McCutchen is the 2013 NL MVP, but hasn't made the All-Star team in each of the last two seasons. Longoria, owed $96 million through 2022, was the longest-tenured Rays player that hit .261 with 20 home runs in 2017, 16 fewer than a year ago. ... The new center fielder is Austin Jackson, who has been in postseason five times in his eight big-league seasons. ... Bumgarner, 28, missed the first half of the season with injured ribs and shoulder after an accident with a dirt bike, but in the second half of last season, he showed that he's the Bumgarner of old. He wound up with a 3.32 ERA in 17 starts. ... The Giants also expect a bounceback season from Cueto, who was distracted with his dad's death and wound up with a 4.53 ERA, way higher than the 2.73 ERA he had in the previous nine seasons. ... The biggest question is the outfield defense in their spacious home ballpark, but the infield defense, with Longoria, Crawford, 2B Joe Panik and 1B Brandon Belt, is strong. ... Giants C Buster Posey, 30, is a Gold Glove defender taking aim at his seventh consecutive season of at least 150 hits. ... The Giants expected closer Mark Melancon, Belt and OF Hunter Pence to be more consistent with health, meaning the Giants could have virtually the same lineups they had won they won World Series in 2010, 2012 and 2014. ... Melancon, a former Nationals closer, hopes the second year of his $62 million contract will go better. He saved 11 of 16 last season, but injury limited him to 30 innings. ...The Giants know the importance of getting off to a good start: They play the division-rival Dodgers in 10 games before May 1.