Phillies Marlins
Quarterly Report on Major League Divisional Races (NL EAST)
Now that most teams have played around forty games, let's look at the Divisional Races:
NL EAST
The Mets, Phillies, and Braves have gone through hot streaks (seemingly, coinciding with the times when they had games against the division's weak sisters, the Marlins and the Nationals).
The Mets got off to a hot start, but have slowed down a little bit as the injury bug has hit the back of their rotation. Look for them to make a trade or rush phenom Mike Pelfrey, as they have finally given up on Jose Lima, with Jeremi Gonzalez soon to follow. If the Mets can fix the back of the rotation behind Pedro Martinez and Tom Glavine, they will be the team to beat as their bullpen trio of Aaron Heilman, Duaner Sanchez, and Billy Wagner has been sensational, and their balanced lineup led by Carlos Delgado, David Wright, and Carlos Beltran is solid.
The Braves got off to a tough start, as Tim Hudson and Jeff Francoeur struggled early, but both have turned things around. The Braves always seem to come up with bullpen finds (check out Kenny Ray's stats so far this year), but they still need to find a solid closer at some point in order to win this division. The lineup has been solid, as the Jones Boys keep putting up big numbers, Edgar Renteria is playing like one of the league's top shortstops again, and Brian McCann has been a revelation on offense. The Braves should hang around and push the Mets for the Division title or at least compete for a wildcard berth.
The Phillies recently had a nine game winning streak, and ended play on Saturday with a four game losing streak, so this is a streaky team. Their pitching killed them early as Jon Lieber, Cory Lidle, Gavin Floyd, and Ryan Madsen all struggled. Lieber has pitched better, of late, and the Phillies hope recent call up Cole Hamels can join Lieber and ace Brett Myers as a strong top three in the rotation. Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, and Bobby Abreu are the core of a powerful lineup. The bullpen could use some reinforcements, despite Tom Gordon's surprising early season success. The Phillies should stick around in both the division and wildcard race, but, ultimately, they may fall short due to their pitching.
The Marlins and the Nationals? The season is already over for them.
The Marlins can take some consolation from the fact that they are developing some good talent like Hanley Ramirez and Josh Willingham. They face a big decision as to whether they want to trade off their remaining superstars, Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera. If Willis is traded, the balance of power in baseball may shift.
The Nationals can look to acquire some of their own prospects for the likes of Jose Vidro, Livan Hernandez, and Alfonso Soriano. After a solid season last year, injuries to John Patterson and Luis Ayala have killed a Nationals pitching staff with very little depth.
One thing we have learned is that there is a wide gap between the top three teams and the bottom two. Knowing the division may come down to how well they feast on the weaker teams, consider betting on the Mets, Braves, and Phillies when they face their weaker opponents.
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