MLB pitchers not built like they used to be

Sandy Koufax of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitched a complete game shutout in deciding Game 7 on two days rest in the 1965 World Series.

Mark Fidrych of the Detroit Tigers pitched 24 complete games in 29 starts in 1976.

Randy Jones of the San Diego Padres pitched 25 complete games in the same season.

Yes, it used to be that a starting pitcher was considered to have a successful outing if he pitched a complete game every four days.

Then why is it that now, a pitcher is believed to have done his job if he works six innings every fifth day?

And on top of that, why do so many starting pitchers get injured nowadays?

Consider the staff aces that couldn’t even make it through the second week of the 2009 season without going on the disabled list:

Among them are Daisuke Matsuzaka of the Boston Red Sox, Brandon Webb of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Hiroki Kuroda of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Then there is World Series MVP Cole Hamels of the Philadelphia Phillies, whose first start was pushed back five days due to injury and hasn’t exactly been lighting things up since.

Lone gone are the days of players signing one-year contracts.

But one has to wonder: Would pitchers (and many hitters for that matter) be much more productive if they were paid year-by-year based on what they did the previous season?

Just asking …

Padres reside in baseball's best division

In two 2008 baseball preview magazines at Barnes & Noble, the Padres are picked to win the NL West in one; yet the other selects them to finish in fourth place.

This is very representative of the way the division lines up for this season.

John Kruk of ESPN rightfully said Sunday that the NL West is the toughest overall division in baseball. Steve Phillips added that four of the five teams should finish over .500, which is exactly what happened last season.

(And to think the Padres won the division in 2005 with the same 82-80 record that placed the Los Angeles Dodgers fourth in 2007!)

Arizona probably peaked a year early when it won the division in 2007, and now All-Star Dan Haren joins Brandon Webb at the top of the pitching rotation.

Colorado made it to the World Series last year with an incredible run … but it wouldn’t be shocking to see the Rockies go from first to fourth place this season.

The Dodgers have a healthy Rafael Furcal at shortstop and Joe Torre to run the show … which makes them better on paper (but they always seem to underachieve.)

The Padres continue to have a great top-of-the rotation with pitchers Jake Peavy, Chris Young and Greg Maddux. Get left field straightened out and they should contend again.

Virtually all experts are picking San Francisco to finish last. But without troublemaker Barry Bonds around, the Giants have turned younger, happier … and could even escape the cellar if all goes right for them.

As the ESPN experts say, look for this to be the best division in baseball.