Pitching, pitching, pitching. The NL East will be won by the team with the best pitching, and it’s hard to argue with our choice. But, let’s do this in reverse order starting with the team who will finish in the basement and work our way to the top.
5. New York Mets
Actually, the East is a pretty balanced division, and I think four of the top five could finish with winning records. The New York Mets though, will not. The Mets had a pretty good last year before they were hunted down and maimed by the Phillies. This year Lucas Duda will lead a pretty uninspired group into thy good night, bowing out to most teams in the NL. Do they have some talent to work with? I suppose. Duda is legit, and Niese will be respectable, but look for a flop from Santana. A big, huge, gigantic belly flop, which will have Mets fans praising the arrival of Tebow before you know it. Sorry.
4. Atlanta Braves
Sorry, the swan song for Chipper Jones will be anything but chipper. Sorry, horrible pun. The Braves are just not deep enough, and their relatively young pitching corps is suspect. Can they handle the big show in a pretty deep division? I’d love to think they can, but sadly, I doubt it. Look for them to finish a shade above .500.
3. Washington Nationals
Why do I like them so much to have them third in this division? That was rhetorical. Seriously though, I like the Nationals and think they might overachieve this year. I like Werth to have a bounce back year, though I wonder if the team can produce the starting rotation to compete in this division. Time will tell I suppose. The Nationals are a young team who I feel is hungry enough to want it. There is talent there, and if the right chips fall into place they can turn heads.
2. Miami Marlins
Here’s the deal – IF the Marlins hede my words and spend whatever it takes to get the world’s best psychologist and hire him or her to work with the club full-time, exclusively, then perhaps they win this division. So far my calls have been unanswered, thus I give them second in the division. Seriously, this has the potential to be the biggest disaster in sports history. As a Cubs fan, I can tell you Zambrano is a ticking time bomb ready to explode, quite literally. Throw Ramirez and Reyes into the mix and it’s a recipe for disaster. Hey, even add a dash of Guillen in for good measure, just for fun. Enough cooking chatter. Florida is a great team on paper, but I’m not taking the gamble on too many loose cannons, Mike Stanton or not!
1. Surprise, surprise! I am taking the not-so-bold stance that Phili will win the East – again! Sorry, but argue against Halladay, Lee, Johnson et al. Go ahead, I dare you! Seriously, facing any of them is enough to make most grown men soil themselves. Argue against that, too! The Phillies are getting a bit aged, or “well-seasoned” as their fans will argue, and there must come a time where their reign will cease, but it’s not this year. Cole Hamels will dominate, again, and the team is just too deep in general not to have them being the class of the East. That said, there are two factors that might change this:
a. The aforementioned Marlins hire said psychologist, or
b. The Phillies’ suffer from any number of injuries that plague the older player.
There you have it, ladies (Sorry, just a figure of speech. Take no offence), my predictions for the NL East for 2012. Disagree? Fantastic! Step up to the plate and take your own swing below. Also, take a look at the MLB Blog and see my previews for the other divisions.
…and that is the last word.
