Phillies 17
Braves 22
Nationals 25
Marlins 27
Mets 29
Starting Rotation:
Phillies-4
Braves-8
Marlins-12
Mets-16
Nationals-20
The Phillies by far are best off in the rotation. Halladay ends up in Philly (finally) and it would be shock if he isn't one of the top 5 pitchers in the league. While Hamels didn't exactly light the world on fire in 2009 which was aided more by a high BABIP against and not on him suddenly turning into a mediocre pitcher. Blanton is your protypical mid-rotation pitcher...no better no worse. There's absolutely no way J.A. Happ replicates his breakthrough year but at the same time he's a better #4 option than anyone else has.
The Braves may be weak in the star-power at the top of the rotation but make up for it with depth. There's no way Lowe struggles as much this year as last, Hanson and Jurrjens are likely to come down a little bit from strong 2009 seasons but that doesn't change the fact that both of them are legit pitchers. Hudson pitched well after coming back from injury but 42 innings is too early to tell whether he can stay healthy and whether he can return to his dominant form.
Josh Johnson may not be a household name like Halladay or Santana but if 2009 is any indication, he could be within the discussion for best pitcher in the NL East this year. Nolasco should bounce back after struggles connected more to bad luck than being a bad pitcher. Volstad should hold his own as a #3 but beyond that don't expect much from the Marlins rotation.
For the Mets, its Santana and.....not much else. Maine and Pelfrey are pretty mediocre pitchers, Oliver Perez is an asset to Razzball and anyone that's a fan of pitchers who think the strike zone is a foreign concept.
The Nationals have John Lannan and Jason Marquis as their top two starters......and it gets worse from there......ouch
Bullpen
Mets-4
Braves-8
Phillies-12
Nationals-16
Marlins-20
Not too crazy about what any of these teams have with the game on the line. The Mets do have K-Rod.....while he does make lots of money and racks up lots of saves....i'm not quite sold on him as being elite.....but he has been relatively healthy (Unlike Wagner) and has never racked up blown saves and 7-plus ERAs like they were going out of style (Brad Lidge....cough....cough) so the Mets get this one by default.
Final Rankings
Phillies-33
Braves-38
Mets-49
Marlins-59
Nations-61
No surprises with the top two, no surprise that the Mets are nowhere near the top, not surprising the Nationals are at the bottom....the only difference between conventional thought and the final rankings is how low the Marlins are ranked.
I saw J.A. Happ pitch a no-hitter for the AAA Iron Pigs in the front end of a double-header in 2008. You'll never read about it though because it was a rain make-up, and the game picked up with the visitors already winning 2-0 at the end of two innings. I guess it can't be a no-hitter if the team has hits on the scoreboard, but it is as close as I will ever come to seeing a no-hitter in person.
ReplyDeleteOn a side note, pitchers who pitch no-hitters in AAA translates shockingly poorly to success on the major league level. Tomo Ohka had a perfect game for the PawSox, for example.
Now that your division standings are set, aren't you going to do a playoff predictions column? P.S. I hate A-Rod.
ReplyDeleteRegret Index:
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To add another one (probably) Manny Parra threw a perfect game in AAA.....I have a partially written article where I predict the wild-card but not feeling particualry motivated on it the last few days.....gut instinct says Yanks get AL WC, Cards get NL WC.......
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