With the National League East, there is a lot of really good starting pitching with most of the teams in the division. Offensively, there are also some big bats in this division. Out of the five teams in the National League East, I think the team the beat in the division is the Washington Nationals. The main reason being that they have the best starting pitching in this division with Jordan Zimmerman, Max Scherzer, Stephen Strassburg, Gio Gonzalez, and Doug Fister. Their rotation is loaded with guys that can win at least 15 games every year. That's their upside of their pitching staff, the downside is their bullpen. Their bullpen shows a lot of promise with arms like Matt Thornton, Drew Storen, Craig Stammen, Tanner Roark, and Casey Janssen. There isn't really a clear cut closer out of that group. It won't be like the last few years where they had Rafael Soriano at the back end closing games. I think out of that group though, the guy that will close games for the Nationals will be Drew Storen because he has experience closing games for them. In the Nationals infield, they have some power there with Ryan Zimmerman, Ian Desmond, Yunel Escobar, and Danny Espinosa. It will interesting to see how they split up the starts with Escobar and Desmond at shortstop. At catcher, they have a decent catcher in Wilson Ramos along with a young catcher behind him with Jose Lobaton. I think the downside to their infield is the inexperience at first base with Tyle Moore. I don't know really what this guy brings to the table offensively. Moore has a small sample size offensively in three years with 18 home runs and 64 RBI's. So the question there is what can he do in a full season. Obviously he's not Adam LaRoche, who brought some power from the first base position the last four years in Washington. In the outfield, the Nationals have depth at the three outfield positions with Bryce Harper, Jason Werth, Denard Span, Kevin Frandsen, and Nate McClouth. Harper and Werth are the big bats in the outfield, so it will be interesting how they split up the platoon in center field. The Nationals are the team to beat in the National League West, but I do think it will be a bit closer in 2015.
2. Miami Marlins (2014 Finish: 79-83, Tied for 2nd place):
With second place in this division, it could be either of the next two teams. Of the two teams (the Braves and the Marlins), in my opinion the Marlins are the better team on paper. In the rotation, the Marlins have a good rotation in their top four in their rotation with Jose Fernandez, Henderson Alvarez, Dan Haren and Mat Latos. Obviously the big question with their rotation is how does Fernandez bounce back from his injury last year. He had a good first year in the majors the year prior to that so if he can follow that up with another good year it will help that team out just as much more. I like what Latos brings to this rotation as well. He gives them another weapon pitching wise. With their bullpen, it will be interesting to see how effective they'll be before they get to their closer Steve Cishek. Mike Dunn and David Phelps are probably the most reliable relief pitchers in their bullpen besides him. Offensively, the Marlins have some serious pop with Michael Morse, Martin Prado and baseball's richest man in Giancarlo Stanton. Jarrod Saltamacchia can also bring some pop to this lineup as well. The Marlins have some youth behind that with speedster Dee Gordon, Adeiny Hechavarria, Donavon Solano, Christian Yelich, and Marcell Ozuna. Jeff Baker and Ichiro Suzuki have been good bats their entire careers. The Marlins have a good top of their rotation along with some good pop in their lineup, and I could see them as one of the surprises this year in Major League Baseball.
3. Atlanta Braves (2014 Finish: 76-86, Fourth Place):
With the Braves, to be honest I am not completely sold on them. Mostly because they don't have as strong of a rotation as they have had in the past. No more Brandon Beachy and no more Kris Medlen. The only reliable names in this rotation are young up and coming pitchers with Julio Teheran and Shelby Miller. Besides that they do not really have much behind that with Mike Minor and Alex Wood. To be honest, I have more faith with their bullpen. After trading Kimbrel to the Padres, it looks like Jason Grilli might be the next viable option for them to be their closer. With their offensive, they have some guys that will bring pop to this lineup with A.J. Pierzynski, Freddie Freeman, Andrelton Simmons, Carlos Quentin, Cameron Maybin, Jonny Gomes and Nate Markakis. They have some young bats behind that with Alberto Callaspo, Jace Peterson, Phil Gosselin, Elmer Reyes, and Christian Betancourt. The upsides with this team are their back end of their bullpen and experienced bats. So if they can get a more consistent rotation, maybe they can make a threat with the Nationals and get into the playoff talk this year.
4. New York Mets (2014 Finish: 79-83, tied for 2nd Place)
The Mets are another team that has some potential in this division. They have some good young arms with Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler, Dillon Gee, and Jacob DeGrom. They have some reliable veterans behind that with Jon Niese and Bartolo Colon. The biggest question with the Mets is how Matt Harvey bounces back from his injury from last year after having a break out rookie year the year prior. Jenry Mejia had a good year as closer last year with 28 saves, so it will be interesting if he can follow that up with another 25-30 save season. The Mets have some depth behind that with Bobby Parnell, Jeurys Familia, and Carlos Torres. They added even more depth to that by acquiring Jerry Blevins and Alex Torres in trades before the regular season starts. Offensively, the Mets have some bats that have some power in their bats with Curtis Granderson, Michael Cuddyer, Lucas Duda, and David Wright. Behind that they have reliable and some young bats behind that with Ruben Tejada, Daniel Murphy, Travis d'Arnaud, Kirk Nieuwenhuis, John Mayberry Jr., and Gold Glover Juan Lagares. With how the rest of this division is, this team is intriguing but they might be stuck in the cellar of this division before they seriously compete.
5. Philadelphia Phillies (2014 Finish: 73-89, Last Place)
It is interesting on how much difference a few years can make. The Phillies used to be a constant contender and playoff team year in and year out. That is not the case now as they are in a complete different direction as a franchise. You look at this team and you can say there are some good pieces here, but why are they in a complete rebuilding mode. There are some good bats in their lineup with Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Ben Revere, Carlos Ruiz and Domonic Brown, but most of those guys could be gone by the end of this year. They have some young bats as well as some veteran bats in Cody Asche, Freddy Galvis, Jordan Danks, and Grady Sizemore. With their pitching, they don't really have too much depth with Cole Hamels, Chad Billingsley, and Aaron Harang in their rotation. Cole Hamels most definitely will be gone to a contender by the deadline. With their bullpen, Jonathon Papelbon is still their closer, but he most likely will also be gone by the trade deadline this year as well. Besides that there is some youth in their bullpen with Philip Aumont, Nefi Ogando, Jonathon Pettibone, and Jerome Williams. This team has those veteran bats and arms for now, but expect it to be a down year in brotherly love this year as most of it will be gone by trade deadline.
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