My NL EAST Preview

1. Washington Nationals – In 2012, the Washington Nationals won the NL East with great pitching along with some great hitting. In 2013, they made their team better by adding more to the bullpen and the rotation as well as adding a few more bats. The Nationals rotation is a whole lot better with the addition of Dan Haren as the number 4 in that rotation. It will be interesting to see how good Stephen Strasburg for a whole entire season. Strasburg was limited to 160 innings last year due to his Tommy John Surgery from the previous season. If Strasburg would have pitched in the postseason last year, no question the Nationals would have made a deep run in the playoffs. Along with Haren and Strasburg, they still have Gio Gonzalez who should have a great year along with WIAC product Jordan Zimmerman. The Washington Nationals added a big arm to their bullpen by signing former closer Rafael Soriano to a 2 year deal worth $28 million. This team has so many great bullpen arms. They have Craig Stammen, Drew Storen, Rafael Soriano, and possibly Tyler Clippard (if he doesn’t get traded). Now onto the hitting. They added Denard Span in a trade with the Minnesota Twins. They’ll be getting a full season out of the teenage phenom Bryce Harper. They still have Jason Werth, Ryan Zimmerman, Ian Desmond, Danny Espinosa, and they brought back Adam LaRoche. This team should be really good this year and it will prove that last year’s NL East Title which was the first Washington-based baseball team to advance to the postseason in 79 years wasn’t a fluke.
2. Philadelphia Phillies – This division should be closer than it was last season. The Phillies really got better as a team for 2013. They went out and improved their bullpen by getting setup man Mike Adams which should help deepen a bullpen that already has a great closer in Jonathon Papelbon. The Phillies went out and improved the supporting cast around Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, and Jimmy Rollins. The Phillies went out and traded for Ben Revere and Michael Young as well as signed Delmon Young. The acquisitions of Ben Revere and Delmon Young help bolster an outfield that already has John Mayberry Jr., Laynce Nix and Domonic Brown. The Phillies will definitely have some pop in their bats for 2013. The rotation which did struggle last year is mostly back, and buying any set backs this rotation which has Cole Hamels, Roy Halladay, and Cliff Lee should be back up there in the National League when in comes to how good their rotation is. The bullpen which also had some setbacks last year should be really good this year with that addition of Mike Adams. I fully expect the Philadelphia Phillies to be in the division race to the very end as well as the NL Wildcard Spot which I expect them to get one of the Wildcard spots in 2013.
3. Atlanta Braves – The Atlanta Braves will also be up their in the NL East in 2013, but I think they will fall short of making the playoffs in 2013. They have a decent rotation with Tim Hudson, Paul Maholm, Brandon Beachy, Mike Minor and the guy who seemed to be the hottest pitcher in baseball at the end of the year last year Kris Medlen. This team has a really good bullpen with Craig Kimbrel, Eric O’Flaherty, and Jonny Venters. They bolstered that bullpen by acquiring Jordan Walden from the Los Angeles Angels. Great arm for the Bullpen really strengthens a bullpen that already has some really good arms. The offense is a bit younger for 2013 with the loss of Chipper Jones. The infield still includes Dan Uggla, Freddie Freeman, Tyler Pastornicky, and Paul Janish. They still have all star catcher Brian McCann as well as Gerald Laird. In the outfield, they now have one of the best starting outfields in baseball which includes Jason Heyward and the Upton brothers BJ and Justin. They also have some pretty good reserve outfielders with Jordan Schafer and Reed Johnson. The question about this team is who will replace the production of Chipper Jones. It’s going to be hard to not see Chipper’s bat on this Braves team after all he was the face of this franchise for a long time. I think BJ Upton and Justin Upton will be the guys that replace the numbers that Chipper Jones had for so many years with this team.
4. New York Mets – The Mets were an alright team in 2012, but I think they will still be at the bottom of this division in 2013. One of the huge reasons is the loss of knuckballer R.A. Dickey, who was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays in the offseason along with catcher Josh Thole. I think the New York Mets will really miss his arm in the rotation. Yes, they still have Johan Santana but R.A. Dickey was a dominant force in that rotation. They still have some great arms with Jon Niese, Dillon Gee, Bobby Parnell and closer Frank Francisco. They also just added Shawn Marcum into the fold. The offense is still decent but isn’t as good as what the Nationals, Braves, and Phillies have. Those three teams have some really good bats in their lineups, and the Mets lack that a bit. Yeah they still have David Wright, Ike Davis, Jordany Valdespin, Lucas Duda, Daniel Murphy, and the recently acquired John Buck, but what this team lacks is another power hitter in addition to David Wright.
5. Miami Marlins – This team is going to struggle. This team lost a lot in the offseason. They lost their two aces in Josh Johnson and Mark Buerhle. They lost shortstop Jose Reyes and utility man Emilio Bonifacio. They lost all those guys in the monster trade with the Toronto Blue Jays. They still have a little bit of pop in their lineup with Logan Morrison and Giancarlo Stanton. I don’t know how long either of them will be with this Marlins club. There is a reason that Giancarlo Stanton should be pissed at the Marlins management. That reason is there was so much promise with this team last year. They spent a lot of money to get Jose Reyes last year as well as getting the new ballpark last year. They tore up what was a great team. That is why I think Giancarlo Stanton will be on the trade block come when the July 31st trade deadline approaches. This team will have some really young pitchers along with a offense that will struggle because of what it lost in the offseason despite adding power hitters Placido Polanco and Chone Figgins. They also sort of helped their bullpen by picking up Jon Rauch. Expect it to be a rough season in South Beach.