BY : ZAC CORDOVA
Overview:
After 14
years of owning the NL East, the Atlanta Braves have taken a backseat to the Philadelphia Phillies
for the past 5 years. Factoring in the poor personnel decisions by the New York Mets and
the low payrolls of the Miami Marlins and Washington Nationals, this has been primarily a two
team division for the good part of a decade. That will certainly change in
2012, as the Nationals raised payroll to acquire Jayson Werth in 2011, and
acquired great young talent in C Wilson Ramos, 2B Danny Espinosa, and SP
Stephen Strasburg, and the Marlins also finding payroll to sign vets SS JoseReyes and SP Mark Buerhle to accompany young sluggers Mike Stanton and Hanley
Ramirez. The Mets appear to be in rebuilding mode, but the NL East can
certainly be won by any of the other four teams. I would not be surprised to
see this division become the strongest division in baseball this season,
surpassing the pitching deprived AL East.
Three Players that
could swing the division:
Marlins SP Josh Johnson- When healthy,
and that hasn’t been often, he is one of the ten best pitchers in baseball. The
Marlins have a very good lineup, but to compete with the Phillies and Braves,
the Marlins are going to need at least 27 starts out of their ace this season.
His pre-all star break ERA’s the past three seasons? 2.74, 1.70, and 1.64 last
year. New manager Ozzie Guillen will have to manage his pitch counts for the
Marlins to have a shot at the division.
Braves OF Jason Heyward- The uber
prospect came back down to earth last year, managing only a .227 BA while
battling various injuries throughout the season. Much like Josh Johnson, he has
battled injury throughout much of his small career. Braves fans, myself
included, hope to see talented youngster beat the sophomore slump and revert to
the super athletic on base machine that he was his rookie year. His saving
grace? He doesn’t turn 23 until August.
Phillies OF John Mayberry Jr- The least
known of the three, John Mayberry Jr. could be the difference between the
Phillies battling out the division until the end of September, or running away
with the division in July. In a lineup that may be on the downside of their
careers, Mayberry and fellow outfielder Hunter Pence offer the only dose of
potential and upside the old Phillies have to offer. If Howard and Utley can
stay healthy and Mayberry can reproduce his 2011 numbers, this division is all
but locked up.
Breakout player:
Washington C Wilson Ramos- The rookie
catcher put a respectable .267/.334/.445 slash line in 2011, while showing some
pop with 15 homers. I expect him to improve in OBP and SLG while staying right
around the .270 mark in BA. This is the season where he surpasses Carlos Ruiz
of the Phillies, and challenges Brian McCann for the best catcher in the
division.
Prediction:
.273/.360/.460 19 Home Runs 70 RBI
Win/Loss Predictions:
Phillies 94-68
Braves 88-74
Nationals 85-77
Marlins 83-81
Mets 70-92
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