Despite being the best division in MLB last season, it was the National League East division, not the Central division, that claimed the pennant.
As part of the lead up to the 2016 season, we begin a weekly preview of the National League and the competition the Pittsburgh Pirates will be facing. We begin the series by looking at easily the worst overall division in baseball, the NL East.
New York Mets
New Yorkers love winning, and the Mets did a lot of that on their way to winning the division last season. However, they fell short of the ultimate prize, eventually losing to the Kansas City Royals in five games in the World Series. With an anticipated rotation of Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Matt Harvey, Steven Matz, and Bartolo Colon, the best rotation, arguably, in baseball will also get Zack Wheeler back near the beginning of July from his Tommy John surgery recovery. Recent signing Antonio Bastardo counteracts the loss of Tyler Clippard. Overall, the Mets’ bullpen should be improved in 2016.
After re-signing Yoenis Cespedes to a three year, $75 million contract with a one-year opt out clause, the Mets have an outfield that also includes Curtis Granderson, and Michael Conforto as key contributors, with Alejandro De Aza and Juan Lagares likely contributing off the bench. Back from injury, David Wright remains a big health question mark. The rest of the infield is rounded out by Lucas Duda, Wilmer Flores, Ruben Tejada, Eric Campbell, Dilson Herrera, Travis d’Arnaud, Kevin Plawecki, and offseason acquisitions Asdrubal Cabrera and Neil Walker, the latter two of which will both start in 2016.
2015 record: 90-72 (0-6 against the Pirates)
2016 record projection: 88-74
Player(s) to watch: Jeurys Familia, Michael Conforto, Neil Walker
[table id=78 /]Washington Nationals
It was Sunday, September 27, 2015, and the Nationals had already checked out on the season like Congress before a holiday. Even before signing Max Scherzer, the Nationals had come to be known as choke artists, although Jonathan Papelbon took it to a whole new level by choking MLB poster boy Bryce Harper in the dugout. The Nationals sport a rather solid starting lineup, but the big question will be whether the bench and any replacement players can rise to the occasion when called upon.
Uncertainty surrounding television contract negotiations had the team unwilling to offer contracts without deferral, according to Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post. The financial uncertainty could spell a crisis situation for the team within the next few years. And a few years is all the nation’s capital may have of seeing one of the most dynamic players in baseball patrol right field at Nationals Park.
It has long been speculated that larger markets will want Harper when he hits free agency, but rumors have surfaced this week that the New York Yankees did not spend money this offseason in order to potentially be able to offer Harper $400 or $500 million in 2019. Even if that doesn’t happen, the Nationals have to find a way to compete now.
2015 record: 83-79 (4-3 against Pirates)
2016 record projection: 91-71
Player(s) to watch: Joe Ross, Jayson Werth, Bryce Harper
[table id=79 /]Miami Marlins
Entering 2016, the Miami Marlins will return to the appalling confines of Marlins Park with a roster equally unsatisfying. The team has more question marks than attendees at the moment. The return of Jose Fernandez in his first full season back from Tommy John surgery will be one of the most notable ones. Ichiro Suzuki will begin the season just 65 hits away from his 3,000th in Major League Baseball, 43 away from hit number Pete Rose‘s record 4,256 between time spent in the states and Japan.
The Marlins are in the process of moving the fences in by as much as ten feet at certain parts of the outfield, while also lowering the height 5.5 feet closer to the current minimum of 11.5 feet. While the current dimensions do little to contain the massive raw power of Giancarlo Stanton, it could have an impact on both the number of home runs hit and the number of fans in attendance.
The addition of Wei-Yin Chen is an interesting one given the high rate of success batters have when hitting pitches for line drives against him. The Marlins have a lot of young, unproven talent, but look for them to be overwhelmed by the highly competitive National League.
2015 record: 71-91 (1-6 against Pirates)
2016 record projection: 84-78
Player(s) to watch: Wei-Yin Chen, Giancarlo Stanton, Jose Fernandez
[table id=80 /]Philadelphia Phillies
The worst team in baseball in 2015 has slowly committed to the rebuilding process after winning the World Series in 2008 led to a team full of aging players with exorbitant salaries. The Phillies managed to dump a lot of those aging players in favor of a lot of young talent over the past couple seasons. Their starting rotation looks to be one of the worst in the league on paper, as former Pirates pitcher Charlie Morton looks to be the number two starting pitcher for the Phillies.
Their bullpen looks like some of the bullpens the Pirates had a decade ago, a little young, a little old, a little rejected, mostly bad. Much of the projected lineup is young and talented, but the Phillies should know better than any other organization how fleeting young talent can be.
The team will need continued solid offensive production from the lineup, and they will need the experienced veteran presence of Charlie Morton and Ryan Howard. If that sounds scary for Phillies fans, it should be. The Phillies should develop into a very talented team over the next few years, but don’t expect them to do much better in 2016 than they did in 2015, as starting pitching will be their downfall.
2015 record: 63-99 (2-5 against Pirates)
2016 record projection: 69-93
Player(s) to watch: Odubel Herrera, Jerad Eickhoff, Aaron Nola, Maikel Franco
[table id=81 /]Atlanta Braves
Each year, the middle of the season revolves around separating the contenders from the pretenders. The addition of the second wild card spot has caused teams to hope beyond hope that they have a chance, but for a lot of teams, sooner or later, they have to accept that they are pretenders. For the Braves, that acceptance came this off-season, as they prepare to open SunTrust Park in 2017.
The all-in move towards rebuilding is a high-risk, yet necessary, move to re-establish a franchise that has been rather lackluster for the greater part of a decade. To show their resolve, general manager John Coppolella and the rest of the front office dealt one of the best young shortstops in the game in Andrelton Simmons to the Angels in November, despite having five years of a team friendly contract remaining.
The Braves have a deep pool of talent, many of which is not near MLB-ready, yet. Lacking the youth the Phillies have, the Braves will have to rely on bounce-back candidates; Michael Bourn, Emilio Bonifacio, Nick Swisher, and Bud Norris to hold down the fort until the farm system either wilts or produces a fresh crop of talent to allow the Braves to compete in the NL East.
2015 record: 67-95 (2-4 against Pirates)
2016 record projection: 71-91
Player(s) to watch: Julio Teheran
[table id=82 /]Summary: The Pittsburgh Pirates went 24-9 against teams from the NL East last season. With the stiff level of competition in the NL Central, the Pirates will need every win they can get against poor teams in 2016. The Phillies, Marlins, and Braves should only be marginally better, if not equal or worse than in 2015. This may or may not be the year the Nationals finally manage to not choke. Also, it is highly unlikely that the Pirates are able to complete the season sweep against the Mets like they did last year. Next week, we will look at the NL West to see how the Pirates should fare against teams from that division in 2016.
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