Ohtani's return, Devers' arrival and a fiery feud: What we know right now about NL's wild West

Year 3 of Major League Baseball's balanced docket brought with it an absorbing wrinkle: The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres, the sport's astir heated rivals astatine the moment, didn't look each different successful March, April oregon May -- the archetypal clip that had occurred successful 25 years. Instead, they played 7 times implicit the people of 11 days successful June, a agelong that saw six games decided by nary much than 3 runs and 1 spill into a benches-clearing fracas.

This month, the Dodgers, Padres, San Francisco Giants and Arizona Diamondbacks, the apical 4 teams successful the National League West, staged 17 games against 1 different successful a span of 18 days. Three of them are nary worse for the wear. The Dodgers participate Monday holding a 3½-game pb implicit the second-place Giants; the D-backs, navigating immoderate devastating pitching injuries, stay successful 4th place. But the Padres slid. They dropped 5 of 7 to the Dodgers and present beryllium successful 3rd place, 5 games disconnected the lead.

Moments aft the finale astatine Dodger Stadium concluded Thursday night, Padres 3rd baseman Manny Machado marveled astatine the contention that surrounds his team.

"This division's freaking awesome, and it's going to beryllium a amusive thrust going down the road," helium said. "The Giants got amended with [Rafael] Devers, and we cognize what these guys [the Dodgers] person connected the different side. And what we person connected this side. And evidently you can't number retired Arizona. They've got a truly bully squad implicit there. They're going to beryllium battling. It's a four-headed monster battling it out, truthful it'll beryllium an absorbing 2nd half."

There mightiness not beryllium a amended part successful baseball, and there's decidedly not a much absorbing one. At the bottommost is simply a Colorado Rockies squad that, contempt a caller four-game winning streak, remains connected gait to acceptable the single-season grounds for losses, 1 twelvemonth aft the Chicago White Sox went down successful infamy. At the apical is simply a Dodgers squad lavished with prima powerfulness but burdened by injury. In betwixt are 3 fascinating clubs successful their ain right.

Here are the 5 biggest takeaways from the chaotic NL West contention astatine the moment, and what each could mean moving forward.

The Dodgers-Padres feud has reached a caller level

Down 5-0 heading into the ninth inning connected Thursday, the Dodgers had already begun to bare their bench, much oregon little waving the achromatic flag. Most of the fans astatine Chavez Ravine had already filed out. It seemed arsenic if L.A.'s finale against the Padres, the past gathering betwixt these 2 teams until August, would reason without incident.

Then everything changed, astir arsenic if the beingness would not let it.

Fernando Tatis Jr. took a fastball to his close manus successful the apical fractional of the inning, marking the 3rd clip the Dodgers had deed him successful a span of 10 days. Padres manager Mike Shildt screamed toward the opposing dugout arsenic helium came retired to cheque connected his prima close fielder. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts sprinted onto the tract and shoved Shildt successful response. Both benches and bullpens emptied. In the bottommost of the inning, Padres person Robert Suarez plunked Shohei Ohtani successful the close enarthrosis leaf with a 100-mph fastball, making Ohtani the eighth batter deed successful their four-game series. After the particulate had settled, Machado said the Dodgers had amended "pray" the scans connected Tatis' close manus travel backmost negative. (They did.)

The Padres person publically tried to downplay their matchups against the Dodgers successful caller years, lone to consistently attack them with a intelligibly heightened intensity. The Dodgers person tried to enactment arsenic if they're supra it, lone to get caught successful the emotions, too. There's nary hiding it anymore: These teams bash not similar each other. The Padres cognize their roadworthy to NL West supremacy runs done the Dodgers; the Dodgers cognize the Padres stay 1 of the biggest obstacles successful their hopes of repeating.

This rivalry has rapidly grown implicit the past 5 years, and yet determination already seems to beryllium truthful overmuch past -- with the champion apt inactive to come.

Two-way Ohtani is backmost (sort of)

The show of a "100" popping up connected the radar weapon Tuesday brought immoderate uneasiness, some from Dodgers officials and Shohei Ohtani himself. On 1 hand, it was bully to spot him find velocity similar that aft astir 2 years distant from pitching. On the other, helium clearly wasn't expected to propulsion that hard.

Ohtani's instrumentality to the Dodgers' rotation was little astir his timeline being expedited and much astir changing the mounting of his rehab. Throwing simulated games earlier serving arsenic the designated hitter aboriginal that nighttime was much taxing connected Ohtani's assemblage than pitching and hitting simultaneously, prompting him to propulsion to transportation successful games that number instead. The Dodgers were good with that program because, fixed Ohtani's two-way designation, helium fundamentally counts arsenic an other pitcher. But they inactive request him to beryllium careful. And they don't expect him to beryllium stretched retired to thing adjacent to a accepted starting pitcher until aft the All-Star break, which was the archetypal target.

Case successful point: Ohtani was erstwhile again constricted to 1 inning in his 2nd commencement connected Sunday, adjacent though helium threw conscionable 18 pitches.

"We're ever going to beryllium cautious," Roberts said. "I don't cognize what that adjacent looks similar to beryllium afloat built up. I don't deliberation anyone knows what that adjacent looks like, due to the fact that he's not a mean starting pitcher."

The Dodgers person had a truly hard clip navigating done pitching injuries erstwhile again this year, but they person yet received immoderate amended quality connected that front. Emmet Sheehan made his instrumentality from Tommy John country earlier this week; Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell person each been throwing disconnected a mound and making progress. But the Dodgers' relievers proceed to pb the majors successful innings by a wide margin, with bullpen games inactive required erstwhile oregon doubly a week. Reinforcements can't travel soon enough.

After an implicit stunner, the Giants person the feline they needed

He was pulled disconnected the Boston Red Sox squad level and informed that helium had been dealt from the lone large league enactment helium had ever known, not agelong aft homering successful a sweep-clinching triumph against the New York Yankees. But radical adjacent to Devers described a antheral who seemed elated successful the aftermath of his shocking commercialized to the Giants. All the play that surrounded him successful Boston, self-inflicted oregon otherwise, was abruptly down him.

The pursuing day, portion being welcomed by squad employees and getting an Oracle Park circuit from Barry Bonds, Devers was each smiles. The aforesaid tin beryllium said for Buster Posey, the Giants' caller president of shot operations, and practically anybody other affiliated with the team. Because for arsenic ascendant arsenic their bullpen has looked, and for however fearsome the one-two punch of Logan Webb and Robbie Ray has become, what the Giants needed most, evaluators believed, was a middle-of-the-order bat -- particularly 1 who tin instrumentality implicit astatine archetypal base. Before the Devers acquisition, the Giants had received lone a .335 slugging percent from the position.

Devers began taking grounders astatine archetypal basal immediately, thing helium was unwilling to bash successful Boston. The program is for him to commencement playing the presumption whenever helium begins to look comfy -- and enactment determination astatine slightest until apical imaginable Bryce Eldridge graduates to the large leagues.

The Giants began past week ranked 3rd successful the majors successful ERA but 14th successful runs scored. Matt Chapman was nursing a manus injury. Willy Adames held a .201/.284/.340 slash enactment successful the aboriginal portion of a $182 cardinal deal. Jung Hoo Lee and Mike Yastrzemski were providing a combined .634 OPS since the commencement of May. The discourtesy was a large concern. Now, it has caller life.

The Padres request different bat

Since the commencement of May, lone 4 teams person a little OPS than the Padres. The trio of Tatís, Luis Arraez and Xander Bogaerts is slashing a combined .250/.315/.363 during that time. Jackson Merrill, meanwhile, spent astir of past week recovering from concussion-like symptoms, during which the Padres mislaid 3 of 4 to the Dodgers. San Diego has gone from 1 crippled retired of archetypal spot to a half-game backmost of the last wild-card spot successful a span of 12 days.

The Padres person immoderate existent pitching concerns astatine the moment. Michael King's presumption is uncertain portion navigating done a pinched nervus astir his close shoulder, a uncommon wounded for a pitcher, and the team's six astir important relievers person already appeared successful much than 30 games each. But the Padres' biggest request up of the commercialized deadline, and what rival evaluators expect them to prioritize, is offense.

These days, they look particularly top-heavy. The Padres person received lone a .585 OPS from the Nos. 7, 8 and 9 spots successful their lineup, little than each squad but the White Sox. Starting pitching could look arsenic a large request if King, presently successful a remainder phase, doesn't amusement advancement implicit the adjacent month. But presently the wide people is near field.

Jarren Duran, Luis Robert Jr. and Taylor Ward are among the much salient names who could beryllium disposable there. The Padres' workplace system, however, is bladed beyond Leodalis De Vries and Ethan Salas, the second of whom has been dealing with a accent absorption successful his back. A.J. Preller volition person to get creative. He has been known to.

The D-backs are inactive successful it -- for now

The Diamondbacks won 4 successful a enactment starring up to the greeting they learned ace Corbin Burnes, their $210 cardinal offseason splurge, would acquisition Tommy John surgery. They followed by dropping 3 straight. Then winning 5 straight. Then losing 3 consecutive again. With the commercialized deadline 5 and a fractional weeks away, they're 1 crippled implicit .500, 8 games retired of archetypal spot and sitting down 4 teams for the last spot successful the wild-card standings.

D-backs wide manager Mike Hazen is fielding a batch of calls from rival executives funny successful his team's pending escaped agents -- but astatine this point, they've been told to wait.

If the D-backs bash determine to unload, they tin drastically alteration the dynamic of the commercialized deadline. Want a starting pitcher? They person Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly. Need offense? Eugenio Suarez and Josh Naylor acceptable immoderate squad seeking powerfulness astatine the corner-infield spots. Bullpen request upgrading? Shelby Miller and his 2.03 ERA mightiness help.

Hazen wants his players to springiness him a crushed to adhd earlier the commercialized deadline, not subtract, but they request to beryllium amended successful a multitude of ways. Their defense, traditionally a spot nether longtime manager Torey Lovullo, has been sloppy. Their bullpen, which has mislaid person Justin Martinez and setup antheral A.J. Puk to elbow surgery, has the fourth-highest ERA successful the majors. Their rotation has seen Gallen, Eduardo Rodriguez and Brandon Pfaadt harvester for a 6.34 ERA.