National League East
1. Washington Nationals
The Nationals enter the 2015 season as World Series favorites, and they have plenty of reason to be considered as such since they may be holding the best pitching rotation in baseball history. After signing 2013 Cy Young winner Max Scherzer to a $210 million deal, he joins a staff that includes Stephen Strasburg, Jordan Zimmermann, Gio Gonzalez and Doug Fister. All of these pitchers are skilled enough to be at least a No. 2 starter on most teams.
The lineup is also stacked with shortstop Ian Desmond and first baseman Ryan Zimmerman, and it will be even more threatening when second baseman Anthony Rendon returns from the DL and if outfielder Bryce Harper can finally put it all together. The 22-year-old entered the league with hype as high as Mike Trout, but he has been unable to stay healthy and live up to expectations so far.
The only weakness for the Nationals is their bullpen, as Drew Storen will be stepping back into the closer role after three seasons out of it, and it remains to be seen whether he has truly recovered from his blown save in the 2012 NLDS against the St. Louis Cardinals.
2. Miami Marlins
The Marlins have locked up outfielder Giancarlo Stanton to a 13-year, $325 million contract. He seems to be healthy after missing the end of September last season following a face laceration. Despite missed time, Stanton hit 37 home runs with 105 RBIs and even stole 13 bases despite being known as a power hitter.
The rest of the outfield has a lot of potential with Christian Yelich and Marcell Ozuna. Yelich recently signed a seven-year contract extension worth about $50 million, and Ozuna possesses plenty of power of his own. The Marlins’ pitching provides hope with Henderson Alvarez and free-agent addition Mat Latos leading the rotation, and Jose Fernandez is expected to return mid-season. Steve Cishek reached a career high last year with 39 saves.
3. New York Mets
The Mets were dealt a major blow as starting pitcher Zack Wheeler will likely miss the entire season with a torn UCL. The Mets’ starting rotation remains stacked though as they still have Bartolo Colon, Jacob deGrom and Matt Harvey. Harvey has looked fantastic in spring training and will be a Comeback Player of the Year frontrunner as he looks to regain his 2013 form.
deGrom won the National League Rookie of the Year Award. Colon has shown no sign of slowing down, and Jon Niese and Dillon Gee are capable back-end starters.
If the Mets’ hitting can hold up, they may be a sneaky wild card contender. However, they will have to lean on first baseman Lucas Duda repeating last season and second baseman Daniel Murphy and catcher Travis d’Arnaud taking the next step forward.
4. Atlanta Braves
The championship window for the Braves has officially closed, and they are aware of that as they showed by trading away outfielder Justin Upton and closer Craig Kimbrel to the San Diego Padres. The rotation remains young and strong with Julio Teheran entering his prime, and Alex Wood and Shelby Miller are prime breakout candidates. Trevor Cahill will give the Braves a reliable No. 4 starter.
Their hitting will take a step back with Upton gone though, but they were also able to trade away his disappointing brother, Melvin, to the Padres. First baseman Freddie Freeman will be called upon to be the main guy, and outfielder Nick Markakis will look to continue being a consistent hitter after leaving the Orioles. Jason Grilli is expected to take over as the closer with Kimbrel gone.
5. Philadelphia Phillies
How the mighty have fallen. It seems only yesterday that the Phillies were one of the biggest powerhouses in baseball, but holding onto first baseman Ryan Howard, second baseman Chase Utley and shortstop Jimmy Rollins for too long has come back to haunt them. Rollins was finally traded and went to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Phillies no longer have a powerhouse rotation, as only Cole Hamels remains from their stacked 2011 rotation. Having Aaron Harang as a second starter provides little to no hope, and 34-year-old closer Jonathan Papelbon does not have many prime years left. Papelbon and Hamels are obvious trade deadline candidates, assuming the Phillies are not still contending in July.
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