National League East Midseason Review
July 17th 2009 18:18
This season, the division that delivered us the World Series Champion Philadelphia Phillies last year has instead decided to offer only two teams over .500. They also can boast the worst team in the majors, by far, with the Washington Nationals, which a group of 12 random guys off the street could have probably performed as well as their pitching staff. The Phillies again seem to be well on their way to the playoffs, but the Marlins, Braves, and Mets are still hanging around.
Standings
Philadelphia Phillies
Florida Marlins 5 GB
Atlanta Braves 6 GB
New York Mets 7.5 GB
Washington Nationals 23.5 GB
Playoff Contenders
Philadelphia Phillies
Strength: Hitting. As I mentioned in my post on their addition of Pedro, the Phillies have had the best offense in the majors this season, even with Ryan Howard not getting on base nearly as much as he did in 2006 and 2007 and Jimmy Rollins appearing to have completely forgotten how to hit. Chase Utley has continued to hit like an MVP and is having his best offensive season to date. Raul Ibanez is another Phillie having a career year, while Shane Victorino and Jayson Werth are hitting as well as they ever have. Outside of Rollins, the Phillies have managed to not give any significant playing time to a hitter that would burden their offense.
Weakness: Pitching. Also discussed in my Pedro post, their pitching has been in the bottom third of all teams. Starters Joe Blanton, Cole Hamels, and especially Jamie Moyer have been plagued by the long ball and have posted ERAs of 4.44, 4.87, and 5.99, respectively. Rookie J.A. Happ has been the best starter, but he projects as only a #4/#5 starter, so the sustainability of his performance so far is questionable. Current fifth starter Rodrigo Lopez has posted an ERA of 3.18 in two starts, but his career 4.78 ERA does not portend a bright future. The other starters that came and left the rotation were all ineffective and are now either in the bullpen or hurt.
This combination of ineffective pitchers and a rookie playing over his head is an issue that the Phillies need to address, Pedro or no Pedro. At best, Martinez can give them a handful of dominant starts like he did for the Mets in 2007. At worst, he will be the completely ineffective pitcher that saw his ability to strike out batters sharply fall and his pinpoint control diminish on the way to a 5.61 ERA, like the Pedro of 2008. The mere fact that he is beginning his stint with them on the DL with arm issues is a bad omen. Based on the poor performance of the rotation to date, Pedro does not have to return to his peak form to make an improvement, but one 37-year-old pitcher will not cure the other four problems in the rotation, nor the gaping holes in the bullpen (i.e. Brad Lidge)
Florida Marlins
Strength: A quartet of stars. Really, the Marlins offense is the worst in the division, including the Nationals, their pitching is in the bottom ten in the majors, and their fielding leaves much to be desired. The only reason that they stand in second place in the NL East and a game over .500 is due to four notable performances: Hanley Ramirez, Josh Johnson, Dan Meyer, and Kiko Calero. Without Hanley Ramirez, it is not certain that the Marlins would have scored any runs this entire year. Emilio Bonifacio may be the worst leadoff hitter in a long time, and the rest of the lineup, outside of Cody Ross, would need a brilliant attorney to convince people they are above-average hitters.
No one outside of Josh Johnson has started more than one game for Florida and has an ERA below 4.50. He, however, has a 2.74 ERA and has done a stellar job of keeping the ball in the park. Meyer and Calero have led the way in the bullpen with dominant sub-2.00 ERA performances in middle relief.
Weakness: If I have to pick just one... the pitching. As mentioned above, no one outside of Josh Johnson has started more than one game for Florida and has an ERA below 4.50. As for the bullpen, they have let Matt Lindstrom and his serious control problems close games, let Hayden Penn into 16 games, and virtually no performances of note outside of Calero and Meyer.
Atlanta Braves
Strength: Front Office. The Braves have made some noteworthy moves this year and the front office looks like they are on the brink of bringing the Braves back to being a playoff contender. While the additions of Garret Anderson and Casey Kotchman have not panned out for them, the pickup of Nate McLouth gives them an above-average bat with an average glove in CF. They finally gave up the black hole of offense that is Jeff Francoeur for an average-hitting OF in Ryan Church. In a controversial move, the Braves released P Tom Glavine to make room for younger guys in the rotation. The trade deadline should be interesting to determine the direction that Atlanta will be taking in the short and long run.
Weakness: Lack of star hitter. While Chipper Jones and Brian McCann may seem to fill the role of star talent on offense, neither of them gives the Braves the advantage that Chase Utley, Hanley Ramirez, or Carlos Beltran give to their division rivals. Chipper can certainly hit, but he has declined some this year and is quickly approaching 40-years-old. As well, 9 HRs in 263 ABs is not much to brag about. McCann gives them a standout batter at a weak-hitting position, which is a tremendous asset, but relative to other superstar hitters, he is not in their league.
New York Mets
Strength: Hitting. The Mets' offense has been one of the better offenses in the majors. Beltran and Wright have been stars, as always, but Sheffield, Reyes, Pagan and Delgado provided some valuable offensive production in the first half with limited playing time. If not for injuries, this could have possibly been the best offense in the NL.
Weakness: Starting Rotation. Johan Santana is amazing as always, but that's about it for the Mets' starters. Livan Hernandez, Mike Pelfrey, and John Maine were nothing but average, at best. Tim Redding and Oliver Perez were embarrassments. Fernando Nieve added some quality starts, but his K:BB ratio say that they were flukes.
Standings
Philadelphia Phillies
Florida Marlins 5 GB
Atlanta Braves 6 GB
New York Mets 7.5 GB
Washington Nationals 23.5 GB
Playoff Contenders
Philadelphia Phillies
Strength: Hitting. As I mentioned in my post on their addition of Pedro, the Phillies have had the best offense in the majors this season, even with Ryan Howard not getting on base nearly as much as he did in 2006 and 2007 and Jimmy Rollins appearing to have completely forgotten how to hit. Chase Utley has continued to hit like an MVP and is having his best offensive season to date. Raul Ibanez is another Phillie having a career year, while Shane Victorino and Jayson Werth are hitting as well as they ever have. Outside of Rollins, the Phillies have managed to not give any significant playing time to a hitter that would burden their offense.
Weakness: Pitching. Also discussed in my Pedro post, their pitching has been in the bottom third of all teams. Starters Joe Blanton, Cole Hamels, and especially Jamie Moyer have been plagued by the long ball and have posted ERAs of 4.44, 4.87, and 5.99, respectively. Rookie J.A. Happ has been the best starter, but he projects as only a #4/#5 starter, so the sustainability of his performance so far is questionable. Current fifth starter Rodrigo Lopez has posted an ERA of 3.18 in two starts, but his career 4.78 ERA does not portend a bright future. The other starters that came and left the rotation were all ineffective and are now either in the bullpen or hurt.
This combination of ineffective pitchers and a rookie playing over his head is an issue that the Phillies need to address, Pedro or no Pedro. At best, Martinez can give them a handful of dominant starts like he did for the Mets in 2007. At worst, he will be the completely ineffective pitcher that saw his ability to strike out batters sharply fall and his pinpoint control diminish on the way to a 5.61 ERA, like the Pedro of 2008. The mere fact that he is beginning his stint with them on the DL with arm issues is a bad omen. Based on the poor performance of the rotation to date, Pedro does not have to return to his peak form to make an improvement, but one 37-year-old pitcher will not cure the other four problems in the rotation, nor the gaping holes in the bullpen (i.e. Brad Lidge)
Florida Marlins
Strength: A quartet of stars. Really, the Marlins offense is the worst in the division, including the Nationals, their pitching is in the bottom ten in the majors, and their fielding leaves much to be desired. The only reason that they stand in second place in the NL East and a game over .500 is due to four notable performances: Hanley Ramirez, Josh Johnson, Dan Meyer, and Kiko Calero. Without Hanley Ramirez, it is not certain that the Marlins would have scored any runs this entire year. Emilio Bonifacio may be the worst leadoff hitter in a long time, and the rest of the lineup, outside of Cody Ross, would need a brilliant attorney to convince people they are above-average hitters.
No one outside of Josh Johnson has started more than one game for Florida and has an ERA below 4.50. He, however, has a 2.74 ERA and has done a stellar job of keeping the ball in the park. Meyer and Calero have led the way in the bullpen with dominant sub-2.00 ERA performances in middle relief.
Weakness: If I have to pick just one... the pitching. As mentioned above, no one outside of Josh Johnson has started more than one game for Florida and has an ERA below 4.50. As for the bullpen, they have let Matt Lindstrom and his serious control problems close games, let Hayden Penn into 16 games, and virtually no performances of note outside of Calero and Meyer.
Atlanta Braves
Strength: Front Office. The Braves have made some noteworthy moves this year and the front office looks like they are on the brink of bringing the Braves back to being a playoff contender. While the additions of Garret Anderson and Casey Kotchman have not panned out for them, the pickup of Nate McLouth gives them an above-average bat with an average glove in CF. They finally gave up the black hole of offense that is Jeff Francoeur for an average-hitting OF in Ryan Church. In a controversial move, the Braves released P Tom Glavine to make room for younger guys in the rotation. The trade deadline should be interesting to determine the direction that Atlanta will be taking in the short and long run.
Weakness: Lack of star hitter. While Chipper Jones and Brian McCann may seem to fill the role of star talent on offense, neither of them gives the Braves the advantage that Chase Utley, Hanley Ramirez, or Carlos Beltran give to their division rivals. Chipper can certainly hit, but he has declined some this year and is quickly approaching 40-years-old. As well, 9 HRs in 263 ABs is not much to brag about. McCann gives them a standout batter at a weak-hitting position, which is a tremendous asset, but relative to other superstar hitters, he is not in their league.
New York Mets
Strength: Hitting. The Mets' offense has been one of the better offenses in the majors. Beltran and Wright have been stars, as always, but Sheffield, Reyes, Pagan and Delgado provided some valuable offensive production in the first half with limited playing time. If not for injuries, this could have possibly been the best offense in the NL.
Weakness: Starting Rotation. Johan Santana is amazing as always, but that's about it for the Mets' starters. Livan Hernandez, Mike Pelfrey, and John Maine were nothing but average, at best. Tim Redding and Oliver Perez were embarrassments. Fernando Nieve added some quality starts, but his K:BB ratio say that they were flukes.
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