National League Preview

The Philadelphia Phillies will have a lot of work to do if they want to repeat as NL champions. In order to do that, they will have to get past NL East rivals New York Mets and Atlanta Braves. The competition doesn’t stop there as the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals in the Central and the Los Angeles Dodgers will take the West but may see some competition. Here’s an in-depth look at the key teams in the National League.

In the East, the Phillies are still the favorite in the division. They have the best infield in the NL and probably all of baseball with Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, and Pedro Feliz. Their outfield is nothing short of good either with Shane Victorino, Jayson Werth, and newly added Raul Ibanez to fill the hole Pat Burrell had left. Pitching will have to play like it did last season to defend that pennant successfully. Cole Hamels is an elite pitcher in the league. He may miss opening day with elbow problems. Brett Myers is his second man with 46-year old Jamie Moyer taking up the third spot in the rotation. Joe Blanton is the guy to keep your eyes on this year. He pitched well after making the move to the NL and should keep up that pace this year. Their bench is deep and their bull pen is strong, being led by closer Brad Lidge and set up man Ryan Madson. They will receive and instant boost once JC Romero is back from his 50-game suspension. Not many holes in this team at all.

The Mets are sick of blowing the season the past two years. They are also sick of blowing saves. So they went out and spent money to bring in closer Francisco Rodriguez, who broke the single season saves record last year. He will definitely rack up saves barring the opportunities he gets but he will blow his fair share too; not my idea of an improvement. There is nothing stellar once you get past ace Johan Santana in the rotation but Mike Pelfrey and Oliver Perez are decent pitchers. They do have a solid offense led by David Wright and Jose Reyes. Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado are still both dangerous hitters but after you get past the first five, their depth is very shallow. They are lucky because they are one of the better Wild Card teams.

The Braves bolstered their rotation with the signing of Derek Lowe. He will be supported by Javier Vazquez and Jair Jurrjens. Chipper Jones leads the offense and he is supported by Brian McCann, Kelly Johnson, Garrett Anderson and Jeff Francoeur. The Braves are young but always stay in the mix. The Florida Marlins have some young talent in Dan Uggla and Hanley Ramirez but that’s really about it. The pitching is very weak. The Washington National aren’t any better and will not be a factor at all this season.

In the Central, the Chicago Cubs are sticking by the motto, “Maybe This Year,” once again. They certainly have a good team but always fall very short in the playoffs. Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, and Alfonso Soriano are the spark plugs of this offense. Kosuke Fukudome really came into his own last season and should still be a key to their offense this season. They also sport one of the best young catchers in the league in Geovany Soto. Jeff Samardzija really turned into a good reliever last year and should see his role increased in the pen. Kevin Gregg and Carlos Marmal are the two leading candidates to be the Cubs closer this season.

The Cardinals may very well surprise us this year. Albert Pujols is the best player in baseball and he is healthy. He may be the only super star on that team but he is supported by guys who can play. They got Khalil Green in a trade in the offseason and have Troy Glaus at third still. Ryan Ludwick and Yadier Molino really played well last year and should continue to play well this season. The big story though is the pitching staff. Adam Wainwright will be the staff’s ace and he will be followed up by Kyle Lohse and Todd Wellemeyer. The Cardinals had no true closer last season but expect Ryan Franklin to take the role again. The rest of the division is very weak once you get past the Milwaukee Brewers. They lost CC Sabathia to the Yankees and I don’t see them getting that 2nd half magic they got last season. They have offensive talent but no pitching at all. The Cincinnati Reds and Houston Astros do not pose a threat at all and the Pittsburgh Pirates are just awful.

In the West, the Dodgers seem to have things under control over there. They got Manny Ramirez to finally sign. He was the hottest player in the second half last season and the only Dodger who could figure out the Phillies pitching in the post season. Andre Ethier, James Loney, and Russell Martin will all contribute to the sturdy offense they have. They lost Lowe and Brad Penny in the pitching staff but added Randy Wolfe. They will look for Hiroki Kuroda and Chad Billingsley to step up and take control of the pitching. The Diamond backs will have to rely heavily on Brandon Webb’s arm if they want to compete. The San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres, and Colorado Rockies won’t be too much of a factor.

The Phillies will take the East and will have the best record in the National League. The Cubs will take the Central in a close race and the Dodgers will easily win the West. The Cardinals should take the Wild Card over the Mets.