Jon Garland

If the duration of the major league baseball season were a California road trip up the Interstate 5, the Padres would barely be in Oceanside.

Nonetheless, with one month in the rear view mirror, the Padres are in cruise control.

For the third time in four games on Sunday, the Padres shutout the Milwaukee Brewers, this time on a combined three hitter by John Garland and two relievers. The Brewers came into the series leading the NL in scoring. 

This is a series of posts leading up to the season preview which will be posted sometime next week.

This post will look at the No. 1 and 2 starters for each team in the NL West (other than the Giants, since these posts will concentrate more on what the Giants will be facing in 2010 in various categories).

One thing to note about these posts is that I'm not looking specifically at the No. 1 and 2 pitchers in the rotation according to MLB.com depth charts.

One of the most important attributes in building a pitching rotation is the durability of the pitchers. When a team can rely on a starter to go out every fifth day to make his start, they have the foundation for a very good rotation.

When Brewers' GM Doug Melvin looks over a list of available starting pitchers this winter he'll find few pitchers that are more reliable and durable than Jon Garland. The Dodgers have declined their option on Garland, making him one of the more attractive options on the open market.