Washington Nationals
2014: 96-66, 1st in NL East
Biggest Strength: The Washington Nationals' biggest strength heading into 2015 is their starting rotation. Washington had the Major League’s best team ERA at 3.03, and with the addition of top free agent pitcher Max Scherzer to go along with Stephen Strasburg and Jordan Zimmerman at the top, it could possibly be better. The fact that former 20-game winner Gio Gonzalez is their fifth starter is unfair. Not only do they have five top-of-the-line starters, they have depth in case of an injury. Tanner Roark won 15 games while putting up an ERA of 2.85, and it looks like he’ll begin the year in the bullpen. This is the premier rotation in the league and is no doubt the biggest strength of this Nationals ballclub.
Biggest Weakness: This team is loaded from top to bottom, but their biggest weakness has to be their bullpen. With the losses of Rafael Soriano (FA) and Tyler Clippard (trade OAK) the Nationals didn’t do a great job of replenishing the back end of the bullpen. Drew Storen will be their closer, and they signed Casey Jansen, who was previously with Toronto, to be the setup guy. Craig Stammen’s role will probably be upgraded, and Jerry Blevins will be the left-handed specialist, but everyone else’s role is up in the air.
Impact Player: Washington’s impact player to watch is Bryce Harper. The 2015 season needs to be the one in which Harper lives up to the hype he has carried around with him since he was a teenager. Injuries have hurt his growth, but a full offseason combined with a very good postseason should help his confidence heading into April. Every year experts predict he’ll be the NL MVP, but this has to be the year he performs like an MVP. The Nationals have several key free agents, and the only certainty moving forward is Harper. This is a big season for Washington, and they need to capitalize now. Bryce Harper needs to be the engine of the Nationals' freight train.
2015 Prediction: 94-68, 1st in NL East
The Washington Nationals have the most balanced roster 1-to-25 in the entire Major Leagues. They revamped an already great rotation with Scherzer, and their lineup is still stacked from top to bottom. The bullpen can be questioned, but it still has plenty of talent to shut games down. Combine that with Harper being one year older amd this team could definitely win 100 games. The should win 94 games solely based on the division. The Mets and Marlins are legitimate, and even though the Braves' offense doesn’t look great, they still have the makings of a good pitching staff to at least compete. This year is World Series or bust for the Nationals.
Miami Marlins
2014: 77-85, 4th in NL East
Biggest Strength: The biggest strength for the Miami Marlins is their lineup. Miami made a flurry of moves this offseason to balance their lineup from top to bottom. They traded for Dee Gordon from the Los Angeles Dodgers to play second base, signed Michael Morse to play first base and protect Giancarlo Stanton in the lineup, and acquired utility player Martin Prado from the New York Yankees to play third base and anywhere else they need him. This team is young with speed and power. Not only do they have the best power hitter in the league in Stanton, who led the NL in homeruns (37), but the addition of Gordon gives them the best base stealer as he led MLB in stolen bases (64). Miami was a middle-of-the-pack offense with minimal power and speed. Now they have the ability to be a Top-10 offense with very good speed and average power. Their ballpark hurts their homerun ability, but they have team that can hit balls in the gap, which can help their power numbers.
Biggest Weakness: Miami has a very balanced every-day roster, but they lack roster depth. Ichiro Suzuki, Donovan Solano, Jeff Baker, and Jeff Mathis are the most likely players coming off the Marlins' bench. All of them are solid players, but none of them pose a threat as a pinch hitter, and if Miami suffers a crucial injury, uncertaintly reigns as to who could fill the void. When Jose Fernandez comes back, they will have a really good rotation, but until then, they have to rely on young guys like Jarred Cosart and Henderson Alvarez to pick up the slack. The bullpen is really average, but their closer Steve Cishek is really underrated and is one of the better closers in the game. This team is balanced in their everyday roster, but they lack depth in their reserve units. If they are hit by the injury bug, it is doubtful they can continue to compete at a high level.
Impact Player: The obvious impact player for the Miami Marlins is Giancarlo Stanton. He is now the highest-paid player in North American Sports history with a 13-year, $325 million contract. He had an amazing MVP-caliber season last year before he was hit in the face with a pitch that ended his season in September. This team will go as far as Stanton takes them. He is the best player on the team and is the anchor of the Marlins' lineup. He has to stay healthy and, hopefully, he won’t have any trouble coming back from the injury. Anytime a player is hit in the face, there has be some caution on expectations because no one really knows how he will react when he gets in the box the first time. He should have no trouble, but the bottom line is that he is the captain of this team, and his impact will decide how far this Marlins team will go.
2015 Prediction: 86-76, 2nd in NL East
This team won 77 games last season, and they lost their ace Jose Fernandez early in the season. He won’t be available until mid-season, but having him should help them down the stretch. Their young players in Christian Yelich, Marcell Ozuna, and Adeiny Hechavarria are a little more experienced, which should help this team become more consistent day in and day out. Miami is loaded with talent all over the diamond, which leads us to believe they should contend this year. The health of Stanton and Fernandez are key, but they have enough talent everywhere else to put them in the playoff hunt. They may not win the division, but they should give the Nationals a run for their money.
New York Mets
2014: 79-83, Tied for 2nd in NL East
Biggest Strength: The New York Mets' biggest strength is their starting rotation. Matt Harvey is returning from Tommy John surgery, Jacob deGrom is the reigning rookie of the year, and Zach Wheeler showed great strides in becoming a top-tier starter. Combine that with established starters like Bartolo Colon, Dillion Gee, and Jon Niese, and this rotation is as strong as any in the National League. They also have Noah Syndergaard, who is their top prospect, waiting in the wings and competing for a rotation spot. The Mets were a top-10 pitching team last year and could easily be in the top-5 if they stay healthy.
Biggest Weakness: New York’s biggest weakness heading into the 2015 season is at shortstop. Wilmer Flores is in line to be the starter since Ruben Tejada never really grabbed the position the last handful of seasons. Flores is known more for his offense in the Minor Leagues, but defensively he might be a liability. His 6’-3” frame isn’t usually suitable at shortstop (except for Troy Tulowitzki), but he has the arm strength to make the throws. Of course, he needs range to play the position, and something Flores lacks is the lateral quickness to cover the area. If he can hit from Day 1, maybe the Mets can deal with it, but the minute he slumps and doesn’t make the routine plays, the Mets fans will once again clamor for a new shortstop.
Impact Player: The Mets' impact player is third baseman David Wright. He is the franchise player, and last year when he struggled, it really hurt the lineup’s production. For the Mets to go where they want to go, “Captain America” David Wright needs to be the stallwart in the middle of the Mets' order. It was by far Wright’s worst season as he had career lows in on-base percentage (.324), slugging percentage (.374), and homeruns (8). Wright also had his lowest number of runs scored (54) and walks (42) since his rookie season back in 2004. Wright is 32 years old and entering the back end of his prime, but he is the one legitimate threat in the middle of the order that has produced consistently throughout his career.
2015 Prediction: 85-77, 3rd in NL East
If David Wright and Matt Harvey are healthy for the entire season and producing to their capabilities, then they should be in the thick of things -- not only in the division but in the NL Wild Card race. Even with a healthy Wright, the offense is still spotty and can’t be relied on to be a top-ten offensive in the National League. However, if veterans such as Curtis Granderson and Michael Cuddyer play to their capabilities from the past and produce at the top of the lineup, this could be a very solid lineup. This team is built on pitching, and they will rely heavily on it to win games.
Atlanta Braves
2014: 79-83, Tied for 2nd in NL East
Biggest Strength: The Atlanta Braves made a drastic roster overhaul under new president of baseball operations John Hart. However, throughout all that change, the Braves still have some strong points, including their pitching staff. Last year, Atlanta was fifth in MLB with a team ERA of 3.38 and also led MLB in quality starts with 110. Julio Teheran has become the Braves' ace as he won 14 games with a 2.89 ERA while making his first All-Star game appearance. The emergence of Alex Wood and the newly-acquired Shelby Miller gives the Braves a very young and talented trio at the top of the rotation. Not only is their rotation very good, but their bullpen is no slouch either. Craig Kimbrel is still the best closer in the game, and the additions of former closers Jason Grilli and Jim Johnson could give the Braves a very formidable back end of the bullpen. It’s a young rotation, but every guy has a high ceiling, and if they play to their capabilities, they could shock a lot of people.
Biggest Weakness: The Braves' offense was their biggest weakness last season, and it’s still their weakness this season. Atlanta was 29th in MLB in runs scored last year, and three of their best hitters from a year ago are not on the team this year: Jason Heyward, Justin Upton, and Evan Gattis. Last year’s team relied on the homerun ball to generate runs, and they didn’t do a good job doing so as they ranked 23rd in MLB with 123 homeruns, 58 less than they hit in the 2013 season. Obviously, this group of players won’t bring much power this season, but maybe they can put the ball in play more often and do a better job manufacturing runs. Another aspect of last year’s offense that hindered them was their inability to get on base (.305 OBP) combined with an abundance of strikeouts (1,369). The Braves ranked 24th in on-base percentage and fourth in strikeouts. That was not a great combination for consistent success. It’s hard to be worse offensively than they were last season, but unless several guys have bounce-back years, it could be more of the same.
Impact Player: The impact player for the Atlanta Braves is All-Star first baseman Freddie Freeman. He is by far their best player, and the offense will go as far as he takes them. Freeman’s numbers were down last season mainly because the top of the lineup never gave the Braves' three-hole hitter many opportunities to drive in runs. He played in all 162 games with a slash line of .288/.386/.461 to go along with 18 homeruns and 78 runs batted in. With the offense being abysmal for most of the season, Freeman seemed to be trying too much, which led to more strikeouts and his slugging percentage dropping 40 points from the previous season. Freeman did show patience as he walked a career-high 90 times, and his career-high 43 doubles is something to be happy about. It remains to be seen if Freddie Freeman can be a perennial 25-to-30 home run guy, but he is more than capable of being that middle-of-the-order bat who can drive in 100-plus runs.
2015 Prediction: 80-82, 4th in NL East
Most experts have the Atlanta Braves towards the cellar of the National League, but some analysts have a little more optimism than most. They made a number of moves involving three of their better players, but this team was bad offensively with those guys, it cannot get much worse. Those players were talented, but Atlanta’s offense was dysfunctional all season, leading to low-run production and a truck load of strikeouts. This new Braves team may single and double an offense to death, but one thing is for sure, they can pitch. There isn’t that headline ace at the top, but they do have proven young arms that still have room to improve while having immense success. Any bullpen anchored by the best closer in baseball, Kimbrel, has a good chance in holding onto leads heading to the ninth and converting them wins. This new group of Braves has more speed and athleticism, and as long as they pitch well and play good defense, they will stay in a lot of games. It’s up to this new-look offense for them to at least reach close to .500.
Philadelphia Phillies
2014: 73-89, 5th in NL East
Biggest Strength: The Philadelphia Phillies' biggest strength is Cole Hamels. He is only one player, but aside from Hamels, there aren’t many guys to feel good about heading into the season. Hamels is still in his prime and producing at a high level. What also makes Hamels their biggest strength is the value he has on the trade market. The Phillies are looking to rebuild, and Cole Hamels is the one asset that can bring back a huge haul that can turn this club's future around. The trade rumors have dwindled, but if a contending club has a season-ending injury to one of its top pitchers, or when the trade deadline roles around and a team needs a guy like Hamels to get it over the top, look for his name to immediately pop up. Hamels's win-loss record of 9-9 is very deceptive. He put up career highs marks in ERA (2.46) and WAR (6.6). Hamels was at his most valuable point last season and still has plenty of prime years left.
Biggest Weakness: Philadelphia’s biggest weakness is its everyday lineup. This team is old and very left-handed. Aside from Chase Utley, who had a very good year considering the state of his team, everyone else was very underwhelming. Ryan Howard isn’t the same player in the middle of the lineup, Domonic Brown has never developed into the player we thought he would be, and the remaining roster is filled with spare parts and unknown potential. Jimmy Rollins and Marlon Byrd are gone, and those were two of their better hitters a season ago on an offesne that finished 23rd in MLB in runs scored. At least the Phillies have some young guys who they can grow and develop, some assets that can help the Big leagues in 2015.
Impact Player: Aside from the aforementioned Cole Hamels, Chase Utley is the Phillies' impact player. Utley was able to play 155 games last season, which was the most games he played since 2009. Obviously, at age 36, Utley doesn’t possess the 30-plus homerun power he once did, but he did slash .270/.339/.407 with 11 home runs and 78 runs batted in. Not only does Utley produce in the middle of the lineup, but he is a great veteran leader in the Phillies' clubhouse. He is a quiet and lead-by-example type of leader. This team is turning the roster over slowly but surely, and Utley is a key cog in helping that process. Chase Utley has made it known he doesn’t want to be traded, but he did say he would listen to Philadelphia’s front office if they had a trade in place. If somehow the Phillies make an unexpected run, Chase Utley would be at the forefront for that to happen.
2015 Prediction: 70-92, 5th in NL East
The Phillies are still in the process of tearing down this team and rebuilding. As good as that is for the long term success of the organization, it means in the short term it will be hard for Philly fans to watch. Look for household names such as Hamels, Cliff Lee, Utley, Howard, and Jonathan Papelbon to be on the trade market throughout the season. As a whole these guys might not make a good team anymore, but they are still individually valuable to contending teams who have specific needs. The Phillies were selling out Citizens Bank Park for several years, but it’s hard to think that will be the case this season with the way the roster is currently constructed.
Summary of Division: This division has improved from a year ago, but the Nationals are the clear favorites, and if they play to their potential, they should run away with the division. However, for the past three years or so we’ve deemed the Nationals as the favorite, and they kept falling short when the games mattered most. With the improvement by the Marlins and Mets, it could be close race decided sometime in September. Even though the Braves have transformed their roster, they still have a very good pitching staff that could give teams fits and be a deciding factor of who wins the N.L. East. The Phillies seem to be the doormat of the division, few silver linings appear to change that. The common strength for the top four teams in the division is their starting rotations. This division has to be one of the best in terms of a young, talented pitching staff. Pitching wins championships, and pitching will end up deciding the division champion.