NL West

I wish I had a dime for every article written about Tim Lincecum lately.  Needless to say, Giants Nation is in full freak-out mode and we're only one-quarter of the way through the 2012 season.  Well, I'm not writing about Timmy.  I've already made my predictions regarding Lincecum and I'm sticking to them.

The Giants have one of the youngest lineups in the National League, much to the dismay of manager Bruce Bochy.  If you don't count Aubrey Huff (and who does count Huff anymore?), then Angel Pagan at age 30 is the oldest everyday player. Most of the players are between 25 and 27 years old.

Once upon a time Tim Lincecum was one of the elite pitchers in the game…

When you say it like that it feels like ages ago, doesn’t it?  Of course, that’s far from the case.  Lincecum was one of the best pitchers in the league as recently as last season and viewed by most as a Top 5 option entering 2012.  So, when you see these types of numbers through 8 starts, you obviously have to be curious as to what is going on:

What had been a dream season for the Los Angeles Dodgers thus far took a major blow on Monday, with news that MVP favorite Matt Kemp would be put on the disabled list because of a strained left hamstring. 

The handshake deal.

The season is off to an extremely rough start for the Colorado Rockies, and there are questions everywhere in regard to the team.

Let’s review the 2012 team...

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The Los Angeles Dodgers new ownership group has two golden opportunities to make a mark on the new era of Dodger baseball.

And...well, they're gonna wait to make that statement until the season is over.

Free agent to be, Andre Ethier, has made it known that he would have no issue discussing a contract extension during the course of the season.

The San Francisco Giants' biggest enemy in 2012 is not the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Los Angeles Dodgers or any other National League opponent. 

Their biggest challenge to winning the National League West is the enemy within.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are on fire through the first five weeks of the MLB season. A big reason for this success is because of Matt Kemp and Clayton Kershaw. 

On a night that saw Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg run onto the same major league field for the first time, it was Matt Kemp that once again put his stamp on the moniker of  “best player in the game."