The National League East boasts the defending NL pennant winners, but otherwise, this division falls on the weaker side of baseball. It is comprised of teams in rebuilding mode and teams teetering between contender and pretender. Here are my 2016 NL East bold predictions.
Philadelphia Phillies – Maikel Franco will lead the team in average, home runs and runs batted in.
Maikel Franco will enter his first full big league season in 2016 and is coming off a stellar Spring Training in which he led the majors in home runs (9) and RBI (23). Expect him to continue on this torrid stretch when the season starts. The Phillies do not have much to look forward to this season, but Phils fans will enjoy watching Franco and the other young talents start to blossom as Philadelphia tries to rebuild quickly for the future.
Atlanta Braves – Hector Olivera will win NL Rookie of the Year
Ever since Atlanta traded for the Cuban sensation, Braves fans have wondered whether Olivera will ever become the player he needs to be for Atlanta: a power hitter who can hit for contact and play average defense. Age is definitely not on his side (he turns 32 on April 4), but his power is dynamic, and he has changed the approach to his swing, eliminating the bat wrap and producing more contact. Expect Olivera to smack twenty home runs and produce a consistent average as the Braves clean-up hitter.
Miami Marlins – The Marlins will finish last in the NL East.
So Miami has one of the best young talents at the plate and on the mound, just hired a successful manager and one of the best power hitters of all time as their hitting coach, and they’re finishing behind two teams who are clearly rebuilding? Yes. The reason is simply this: Jeffery Loria. The art-dealing owner of the Marlins has created rifts in the clubhouse over the past two seasons, and bringing in strong personalities in Mattingly and Bonds won’t help matters. Expect this team to falter mightily over the course of 162 games. Maybe this season will finally result in Miami moving on from Loria’s ownership.
Washington Nationals – Bryce Harper will win the Triple Crown, but the Nationals will miss the playoffs.
Bryce Harper is the best player in the National League, and he will be for the next several years. He will produce Bonds and Pujols-esque numbers, maybe even better, for many years to come. However, Washington is about to get a wake-up call as to the direction their franchise is heading. The combination of pulling a manager out of retirement after missing on the manager you truly wanted because you low-balled him on the contract, the money that will be owed to Harper and Max Scherzer in the coming years, and the fact that, aside from Harper and Anthony Rendon, this team isn’t getting any younger, spells trouble for the Nats. This team can compete for a division crown with the talent of Harper alone, but they could also free fall into .500 territory, with no signs of improving or rebuilding.
New York Mets – The Mets will win over 100 games and repeat for the National League pennant.
This defense is nothing worth mentioning; in fact, it’s one of the worst fielding groups in baseball. The offense has some holes and will go through slumps with strikeouts galore. However, when you look at this rotation, it is as solid as you can get for a pennant winner. As Tommy Lasorda once said, “The best teams will lose a third of their games, and the worst teams will win a third of their games. It’s that middle third that makes the difference.” Their is no team I place more confidence in to win those middle third games than the New York Mets. They will destroy the mediocre competition division offers, creating a lead by May that will never be caught. Expect them to return to the World Series this season.
Main Photo:
