National League West preview

Los Angeles Dodgers

2016: 91-71, first place, lost to Cubs in NLCS.

Outlook: The Dodgers are coming off their fourth consecutive division title and a trip to the N.L. Championship Series, so they appear to be perhaps the biggest threat to the Cubs’ dominance in the National League. Los Angeles is still looking for its first trip to the World Series since winning the 1988 title. Having won the N.L. Rookie of the Year award, Corey Seager expects to be ready for opening day after being sidelined in spring training for most of March with a strained oblique. The Dodgers succeeded in keeping much of the roster intact, including re-signing RH Kenley Jansen (3-2, 1.83, 47/53 saves, 104 Ks), 3B Justin Turner, and LH Rich Hill. The outfield will be a platoon situation involving right-handed hitters RF Yasiel Puig, Trayce Thompson and Scott Van Slyke, and left-handed hitters Andre Ethier, Kike Hernandez, Joc Pederson and Andrew Toles.

San Francisco Giants

2016: 87-75, second place, wild card, lost to Cubs in NLDS.

Outlook: Bumgarner and Cueto provide one of the best 1-2 punches at the top of any rotation in the majors, and a full season from Matt Moore after he was acquired at the trade deadline last year from Tampa Bay only makes San Francisco tougher. The lineup is deep, led by All-Stars Buster Posey and Brandon Crawford and key contributors like Hunter Pence and Brandon Belt.With Mark Melancon on board to handle the ninth inning, the only glaring question is whether Matt Cain can regain his previous form and lock down a spot at the back of the rotation.

Colorado Rockies

2016: 75-87, third place.

Outlook: Heading into spring training, the Rockies were a trendy pick to make a run at their first playoff berth since 2009. They signed manager Bud Black to a three-year deal. They brought in former shortstop and outfielder Ian Desmond to learn first base, and bulked up their shaky bullpen with Greg Holland and Mike Dunn. They already had one of the most formidable lineups in the league with Nolan Arenado, Carlos Gonzalez, Trevor Story, Charlie Blackmon and DJ LeMahieu. But this spring they’ve been hit hard by injuries. Desmond had surgery on his broken left hand and will miss several weeks. Chris Rusin has an oblique injury, outfielder David Dahl is dealing with injured ribs and catcher Tom Murphy could miss a month with a hairline fracture in his right forearm.

Arizona Diamondbacks

2016: 69-93, fourth place.

Outlook: The Diamondbacks can score – they were fourth in the NL last season with 752 runs. The return of A.J. Pollock and David Peralta from injuries should make the lineup even more formidable, and Brandon Drury could have a breakout year as an everyday player at second base. Paul Goldschmidt remains one of the game’s most dangerous sluggers. But the pitching must improve for this team to have any hope of challenging the Dodgers and Giants. Torey Lovullo, the bench coach in Boston before coming to the desert as the new manager, says he’s ignoring what happened with the Diamondbacks a year ago, when he wasn’t around.

San Diego Padres

2016: 68-94, fifth place.

Outlook: The Padres ave decided on a long-term plan to develop young players. Wil Myers, the only holdover from their previous win-now attempt that failed, has become an All-Star and the current face of the franchise, although he could soon be challenged for that distinction by promising youngsters like Austin Hedges and Hunter Renfroe. Power-hitting outfielder Jabari Blash probably won a spot on the 25-man roster with a strong spring. The Padres will experiment with using Christian Bethancourt as a catcher, pitcher and outfielder.