The Dodgers are heavy favorites to win the NL West, although the Diamondbacks, Giants and Padres are all playoff contenders. The Post’s Mark W. Sanchez gives his predictions.
The Post’s Mark W. Sanchez previews the NL West:1. Los Angeles Dodgers
O/U wins: 103.5
Key player: Shohei Ohtani. It has to be the $700 million man, right? Last year batting in a terrible Angels lineup, the best baseball show on Earth won an MVP, flirted with the AL home run record (before a torn UCL ended his season early) and made 23 brilliant starts on the mound. What can a prodigious slugger do when Freddie Freeman suddenly is batting behind him? What can a two-way superstar do when suddenly he no longer has to worry about pitching? The only thing that may stop Ohtani is the gambling scandal involving his former translator, Ippei Mizuhara.
Player who’ll need to step up: Mookie Betts. It will be difficult for one of the best players in the sport to improve, but he will be asked to do more defensively. A right fielder turned second baseman is now a shortstop after Gavin Lux played his way out of the position this spring. Betts, who also could be a bowling star, is apparently out to prove he can do anything.
Name you’ll get to know: Gavin Stone. The righty debuted in what was a forgettable first season, in which he allowed 31 earned runs in 31 innings. Stone, a top prospect, told reporters this spring he was tipping pitches all of last year and has solved the problem. Because of injuries to the rotation, the organization’s No. 6 prospect will open the season as the No. 5 starter.
Biggest question mark: What will the rotation look like at the end of the year? There is wild upside but questions surrounding Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Bobby Miller, James Paxton and Stone. If the Dodgers don’t like the answers to those questions, Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler, Emmet Sheehan and Dustin May loom as potentially excellent arms who are expected to return from injury sometime this season.
How it’ll go down: The Dodgers will win because they virtually always win, having taken the division in 10 of 11 years. An inordinate number of things can go wrong and the Dodgers still could coast to the NL West title. If an inordinate amount goes right, they could threaten the 116-win record set by the 2001 Mariners.2. San Francisco Giants
O/U wins: 83.5
Key player: Kyle Harrison. With the top two NL Cy Young finishers last season in Logan Webb and late-spring-signing Blake Snell atop the rotation, there is potential for the Giants’ pitching to be overwhelming. Can Harrison, the club’s top prospect who showed promise in a taste of major league life last season, rise to form a devastating trio? If so, the Giants would have a way to shut down a division filled with powerful offenses. If not, more pressure would be placed on Alex Cobb and Robbie Ray, both returning from injury at some point this year.
Player who’ll need to step up: Jorge Soler. The last Giants player to slug 30 homers in a season was Barry Bonds in 2004. Can Soler break the curse? He’s their best bet after blasting 36 with the Marlins last season — which was one season after he never got going and posted a .695 OPS. There are questions about which Soler the Giants will get, but at his best he’s among the most powerful bats in the game.
