charlie 3NL East
February 14th 2011 16:25
The NL East has been the best division in baseball the last four seasons. Mets blew a hugh lead to the Phillies in 2007. 2008 was much of the same for the Mets and Phillies. Since then the Phillies have won the division by at least 5 games the last two seasons. Will 2011 be much of the same or will we have a new NL East winner.
We will start at the bottom. Fifth place in the NL East will go to the Washington Nationals. They have added some big names this offseason. Jayson Werth and Adam LaRoche comes to D.C. to try and help them prove me wrong. Stephen Strasburg comes back to try and become the star he was showing he could be before an elbow injury. All eyes will be on Stras to see if he can rebound from the injury. 2010 saw a big free agent signing for Washington in Jason Marquis. 9 loses and only 2 wins in 2010. ERA 6.60. Marquis will need to have a bounce back season if the Nats want to be higher than fifth place in the East.
The New York Mets will finish the year in the fourth spot. The pitching is weak in New York. Aside from Neise and Santana there is no qulity starter on the team. Johan had surgery and has yet to throw a ball with pitchers and catchers reporting to camp in a few days. Neise will have to have the career year like he did last year for the Mets to beat the Nats in the East. Capuano and Young were added to this team to help the backend of the rotation. Dickey is also an option if he can do what he did in 2010. New York is also lacking cash. Expect a trade by the deadline to send a big name like Johan Santana away from the Mets to open up cash flow. Mets will barly hold onto the fourth place spot ove Washingon.
The third place team may be a bold prediction. The Atlanta Braves will drop down a spot in 2011. It will not be enough to get just Dan Uggla if they want to finish with a playoff run. Led by Hanson and Hudson is Atlanta's medicore pitching staff. Hanson just starting out and Hudson past his prime. The extreme ground baller, Derek Lowe, will have to have a season like he had in 2002 for the Braves to do anything. In 2002 Lowe was 21-8 with a 2.58 ERA. Atlanta lost the fire in manger Bobby Cox, and they will lose the fire to finish in second.
The Florida Marlins will make a push for second in the NL East and a wild card berth in 2011. Josh Johnson is a Cy Young caliber pitcher. Back and shoulder injurys cut his 2010 season short. It's because of that i belive he has something to prove in 2011. Johnson led the baseball in quality start percentage in 2010. Anibal Sanchez will be the mid rotation guy in Florida. Sanchez was back to form last year looking like he had ace quality stuff. Uggla may be better off not with the Marlins, but Florida is surely gonna miss Dan. Uggla was a .247/.360/.478 hitter at Sun Life Stadium the past three seasons combined. You shouldn't be surprised if the Marlins don't look to good on offense. Gaby Sanchez always being lost in the shuffle is good for Florida, and the addition of Omar Infante will help. Infante is coming from Atlanta for Dan. The loss of Dan Uggla will be overcome.
2011 will be another solid year for the Philadelphia Phillies. The rotation led by Roy Halladay as well as the lineup led by Placido Polanco looks impressive. It will be a two team race (Phillies/Marlins) for the NL East crown. The race will go until the last week to week an a half of the season, but Philly will win it.
STANDINGS
Phillies 101-61
Marlins 95-67 6 games back
Braves 86-76 15 games back
Mets 71-91 30 games back
Nationals 63-99 38 games back
We will start at the bottom. Fifth place in the NL East will go to the Washington Nationals. They have added some big names this offseason. Jayson Werth and Adam LaRoche comes to D.C. to try and help them prove me wrong. Stephen Strasburg comes back to try and become the star he was showing he could be before an elbow injury. All eyes will be on Stras to see if he can rebound from the injury. 2010 saw a big free agent signing for Washington in Jason Marquis. 9 loses and only 2 wins in 2010. ERA 6.60. Marquis will need to have a bounce back season if the Nats want to be higher than fifth place in the East.
The New York Mets will finish the year in the fourth spot. The pitching is weak in New York. Aside from Neise and Santana there is no qulity starter on the team. Johan had surgery and has yet to throw a ball with pitchers and catchers reporting to camp in a few days. Neise will have to have the career year like he did last year for the Mets to beat the Nats in the East. Capuano and Young were added to this team to help the backend of the rotation. Dickey is also an option if he can do what he did in 2010. New York is also lacking cash. Expect a trade by the deadline to send a big name like Johan Santana away from the Mets to open up cash flow. Mets will barly hold onto the fourth place spot ove Washingon.
The third place team may be a bold prediction. The Atlanta Braves will drop down a spot in 2011. It will not be enough to get just Dan Uggla if they want to finish with a playoff run. Led by Hanson and Hudson is Atlanta's medicore pitching staff. Hanson just starting out and Hudson past his prime. The extreme ground baller, Derek Lowe, will have to have a season like he had in 2002 for the Braves to do anything. In 2002 Lowe was 21-8 with a 2.58 ERA. Atlanta lost the fire in manger Bobby Cox, and they will lose the fire to finish in second.
The Florida Marlins will make a push for second in the NL East and a wild card berth in 2011. Josh Johnson is a Cy Young caliber pitcher. Back and shoulder injurys cut his 2010 season short. It's because of that i belive he has something to prove in 2011. Johnson led the baseball in quality start percentage in 2010. Anibal Sanchez will be the mid rotation guy in Florida. Sanchez was back to form last year looking like he had ace quality stuff. Uggla may be better off not with the Marlins, but Florida is surely gonna miss Dan. Uggla was a .247/.360/.478 hitter at Sun Life Stadium the past three seasons combined. You shouldn't be surprised if the Marlins don't look to good on offense. Gaby Sanchez always being lost in the shuffle is good for Florida, and the addition of Omar Infante will help. Infante is coming from Atlanta for Dan. The loss of Dan Uggla will be overcome.
2011 will be another solid year for the Philadelphia Phillies. The rotation led by Roy Halladay as well as the lineup led by Placido Polanco looks impressive. It will be a two team race (Phillies/Marlins) for the NL East crown. The race will go until the last week to week an a half of the season, but Philly will win it.
STANDINGS
Phillies 101-61
Marlins 95-67 6 games back
Braves 86-76 15 games back
Mets 71-91 30 games back
Nationals 63-99 38 games back
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