NL West

The Dodgers made a splash when they signed Cuban middle infielder Alexander Guerrero this past offseason to play second base, but in the early stages of the 2014 season, it’s been another middle infielder that has emerged as a sensational second baseman.

After years of hacking at the threshold, Dee Gordon has finally materialized into the player that he was hyped up to be when he made his major league debut for the Dodgers in 2011.

The San Francisco Giants are riding high, with an impressive 24-14 record on the season and a 7-3 record against their NL West division rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers. 

Here are some bold (or, perhaps, not so bold) predictions as the Giants move forward with the 2014 season. 

The NL West party is being crashed before our very eyes. Only the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants were invited but, darn it, the Colorado Rockies have shown up.

They look like they mean business. And, oh, they just might.

Following Wednesday night's first-inning RBI double, Nolan Arenado of the Colorado Rockies extended his hit streak to 27 games, tying a franchise record, per The Denver Post. Michael Cuddyer—the defending National League batting champion—recently set the mark with his own 27-game streak last season.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are set to conclude a grueling nine-game road trip this week, one that has featured almost every challenge the team could imagine.

More than a month through the season, the performances of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ top prospects have stabilized. We’ve seen some regression away from the extremely impressive early season numbers put up by many of the young starters. 

Just as Clayton Kershaw is coming off the disabled list, Hyun-Jin Ryu is heading onto the disabled list with a shoulder injury. The Los Angeles Dodgers swap their No. 3 pitcher for their No. 1, but their depth has already been tested by injuries, making any further time lost a tough proposition.

Missing any time is frustrating to Matt Cain, but the San Francisco Giants are making good use of a little understood MLB rule in order to minimize that lost time. Cain's finger laceration will only cost the minimum time due to the Giants' use of the "retroactive" provision of the disabled list rules.

Colorado Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki has always had the requisite talent to be one of the very best players in baseball. Thus far in 2014, talent, health and production have come together to form the foundation for a special season.

In 2007, the Arizona Diamondbacks made a surprising run toward the playoffs and reached the National League Championship Series before finally falling short against the Colorado Rockies. Three years later, the architect for that surprising run, general manager Josh Byrnes, was fired in July 2010.