Welcome to Leadoff Knock’s inaugural MLB season preview. Rather than make wildly wrong predictions about where each team will finish, this season preview will be more about assessing where each team is at entering the season.

Arizona Diamondbacks

How do they look? Arizona had a busy offseason, swapping perennial superstar-on-the-cusp, Justin Upton, to Atlanta for Martin Prado, and signing former Giants playoff hero Cody Ross to man left field. The new-look DBacks will be a tougher, run-manufacturing focused team compared to the 2012 version. Look for them to stress making contact at the plate, rather than swinging for the fences, and to be extremely aggressive on the basepaths.

To play that style of ball they’ll be relying heavily on a solid (and hopefully healthy) starting rotation, and a deep bullpen to help them improve on their 2012 record of 15-27 in one-run games.

The bottom line: If the DBacks can remain healthy, and younger players like Tyler Skaggs and Paul Goldschmidt continue to develop, Arizona will challenge for a playoff spot.

Colorado Rockies

How do they look? 2013 will probably be a rough year for the Rockies. They’re getting a healthy Troy Tulowitzki back to start the season, and they have a few emerging sluggers in their lineup, but their pitching staff remains one of the worst in baseball.

The bottom line: Given the state of their pitching staff, it’s really hard to see the Rockies being very competitive in the NL West this year. Stranger things have happened, but as of today it looks like this team is at least a year or two away from turning things around.

Los Angeles Dodgers

How do they look? The Dodgers, as everyone knows, made a huge splash this offseason, signing Zack Greinke to a $150 million contract. They also singed Cuban sensation, Yasiel Puig, to a $42 million contract, and the baseball world is watching with amazement as he burns up the Cactus League to the tune of .527/.509/.855. There’s no guarantee he will start the season on the big league roster (he’s only 22, and fresh off the boat), but if he continues his hot hitting it will be impossible for the Dodgers not to call him up sooner rather than later.

Aside from Puig, the Dodgers have a seemingly stacked lineup, but a lineup that features multiple highly paid stars who have not performed consistently over the past couple seasons. The talent is there, it’s just a matter of getting everyone to play up to it.

With Clayton Kershaw, Greinke, and Josh Beckett anchoring their staff, the Dodgers once again figure to be one of the best pitching teams in baseball. Brandon League has been marked down as the club’s closer, but don’t be surprised to see Kenley Jansen back in that role if League struggles early on.

The bottom line: The Dodgers have the talent to compete, and they’ve clearly been built to compete (at a huge expense), but it will be up to Don Mattingly and his coaching staff to get all that talent playing consistently. If the coaching staff succeeds, the Dodgers should terrorize the entire National League.

San Diego Padres

How do they look? Despite finishing with a losing record, the Padres were actually one of the better teams in baseball during the second half of 2012. Chase Headley had a breakout second half, and rookie catcher, Yasmani Grandal, was impressive both behind the plate and in the batter’s box.

However, the Padres will be forced to open the 2013 without Headley (out for a month with a thumb injury) and Grandal (suspended 50 games for PED use). Their pitching staff, while not as horrible as the Rockies, lacks any sort of lock down starter, or even a promising young hurler.

The bottom line: While the Padres played extremely well in the second half last year, it will be difficult for them to keep up with the Giants, Dodgers, and Diamondbacks, especially since they’ll be without the services of Headley and Grandal to open the season. Once they’re healthy, however, they could cause some major headaches for the NL West’s heavy hitters.

San Francisco Giants

How do they look? The defending champs return an almost identical team to the one that won the World Series in 2012. During the offseason they signed Andres Torres to platoon with Gregor Blanco, but otherwise their lineup is a carbon copy of the lineup that won it all this past October.

At the plate the Giants will look for Buster Posey to continue his steady play, Pablo Sandoval to stay healthy, for Hunter Pence to bounce back after a down year, and for Brandon Belt to finally develop into the premier middle of the order threat he looked to be in the minors.

On the bump, Tim Lincecum will look to regain command of his fastball, and rebound from an extreme down year in 2012. Sergio Romo figures to be the closer out of the gate in 2013, but Bruce Bochy may use him more sparingly than he would a typical closer, since Romo’s devastating slider is particularly hard on his elbow. Look for Santiago Casilla to get plenty of save opportunities, as Bochy attempts to keep Romo fresh for another postseason run.

The bottom line: If the Giants remain healthy, and Tim Lincecum bounces back in a contract year, the Giants will be very difficult to beat. This is a team that’s built for the postseason format, and if their starting rotation remains steady and consistent, they should be able to position themselves for another run deep into October.