Kevin Kouzmanoff is trying his best to redeem a lost rookie season.

Well, I have had a brief hiatus from this column, but am now returned to finish off the year. We have learned a little about adult oriented rock, Estonian pop, good TV shows that are destined to be prematurely cancelled, and the National League and, hopefully, a few players the reader didn’t realize were doing quite so well or quite so poorly.

On that note, this week we spotlight the “most” competitive division in the NL and the one team that is not.

National League West

Arizona Diamondbacks

The Diamondbacks have a slim lead over the Padres and need only a couple of games to clinch a playoff spot. They have compiled an 18-6 record thus far in September. If they can keep any semblance of this pace up, they will surely be the division winner.

Hot: With Chad Tracy injured and ineffective for much of the year, Mark Reynolds has become an important part of the team. In 344 at-bats, he has 17 homers, 59 runs, and 61 RBI. In the last week, he hit .385 with seven runs and seven RBI.

Cold: Eric Byrnes leads the team in runs, RBI, OPS, and steals and has chipped in 21 home runs. In the last week though, he has been 5-for-26 with no RBI. This is not the best time for the team leader to go cold.

Colorado Rockies

The Rockies have stayed competitive all year, and are 14-7 through their first 21 games of September - but it does not seem enough as they are all but eliminated from the division championship at four games back. However, there has been a lot to be happy about on the team on the mound and in the batter’s box, and at just 1.5 games back of the Wild Card after their sweep of the Padres, anything can happen in this last week.

Hot: Jeff Francis has become one of the best starters in the National League over the last few years in the relative obscurity of Colorado. He may never be a Randy Johnson, but he is 16-8 with 152 strikeouts and 60 walks. He won his last start just allowing one run on a homer and striking out ten.

Cold: Ubaldo Jimenez has been effective as a starter (4-4, 4.14 ERA). His last two starts have been a little rough for him though. Despite winning one of his two starts, he walked seven, allowed 10 hits, and eight runs in only 9.1 innings.

Los Angeles Dodgers

The Dodgers are four games over .500, which we know in the recent past could have easily been good enough for a shot at wild card or even the division. They have used eleven starting pitchers so far and only four, including ace Brad Penny, have winning records (7-5, 3-0, 9-6, and 16-4). The offense features a good mix of young and experienced players so the pitching staff seems to be culprit to their likely fourth place finish. The Dodgers have also been 1-6 in their last seven games.

Hot:  Luis Gonzalez turned 40 earlier this month and finished this last week with the best offensive numbers on the team. He hit two homers, drove in six, and scored twice.

Cold: Esteban Loaiza lost twice in the last week, lasting only a combined 8.2 innings, walking nine and allowing nine earned runs.

San Diego Padres

The Padres had been one of the hottest teams in the National League in the seven games before running into the Rockies. However, it is too close to call in the West and in the Wild Card chase. The pitching staff has had an ERA of 1.59 over that time, a WHIP of 0.93, and over eight strike outs per nine innings. A few hitters (Kevin Kouzmanoff .360, Adrian Gonzalez .379) helped balance out the lack of offense on the team (.242 batting average).

Hot: Brett Tomko bounced all around for the Dodgers and, to a lesser extent, the Padres. He has a 5.36 ERA on the year with a 4-11 record in 17 starts and 21 relief appearances. His strikeouts and strikeout-to-walks have been solid, though. He was inserted into the Padres starting rotation and won two starts in the last week. He struck out eleven and only allowed three earned runs in those decisions.

Cold: I don’t get to see as many NL West games as I would like, but the last time I got to see some of one, Brian Giles had hit his third home run in about a week, so it was a surprise to find out he was slumping, going 3-for-22 with 0 RBI currently.

San Francisco Giants

The Giants have only five wins this month and have completely fallen out of the normally tight race in the West. This allows me to pick a hot player…who does not qualify under the normal rules.

Hot: Matt Cain is 7-16 and has not won this month in four tries – in fact, he has two losses in the last week. However, he only allowed three runs in those two games, striking out ten with only two walks and eight hits.

Cold: When your team is 1-6 in a week, there are probably many players competing to be labeled as cold. Offensively, Kevin Frandsen is the only legitimately hot hitter, so we choose Bengie Molina, who has been one of the top hitting catchers in baseball this year. The last seven games have seen him get only five hits accounting for one run and one RBI.

Questions and comments may be sent to donwebster@sportsgrumblings.com