2009 NL East Preview

The Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Tampa Bay Rays last fall to win their first word championship in 28 years. The Phillies have also overtaken the New York Mets the last two seasons to win the NL East division. This year should be no different.

NL EAST

Phillies
Mets
Braves
Marlins
Nationals

The Phillies are the team to beat in the NL East, but there are two arms that could change all that. Ace Cole Hamels struggled with a bad elbow all spring, though he did pronounce himself ready to go after an outing on Sunday. Closer Brad Lidge was perfect in 41 save attempts last season. If one or both struggle this season, so will the Phillies. But they're still the best team in the division.

Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, and Jimmy Rollins are as good as any three infielders in MLB. Pat Burrell is out, but the more consistent Raul Ibanez is in. The rotation has Joe Blanton for an entire season. Ryan Madson emerged as an outstanding set up man last season.

The Mets have a lot to prove to their fans after two straight collapses that landed them on the outside looking in at playoff time. Johan Santana is still the best pitcher in baseball and Mike Pelfrey came into his own last season. The Mets re-signed erratic free agent lefty Oliver Perez, who was booed off the mound in Saturday's exhibition game at Citi Field. John Maine was awful in the second half of last season and hasn't totally regained his form this spring. The fifth spot in the rotation, for now, goes to retread Livan Hernandez, but rookie Jon Niese could step in at some point.

On offense, it all still falls on Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, David Wright, and Jose Reyes. Wright and Reyes can't pull a disappearing act down the stretch like they did the last two seasons. The bullpen is a huge upgrade over last year with the acquisitions of closers Francisco Rodriguez and (now set up man) J.J. Putz. The pen is what will win the wildcard for the Mets.

The Atlanta Braves were impressive in their first game last night, beating the Phillies 4-1. Jordan Schafer homered in his first major league at-bat, and Brian McCann and Jeff Francouer also went deep. Derek Lowe threw an outstanding eight innings and tops a solid rotation with Jair Jurjjens, Javier Vazquez, and Japanese rookie Kenshin Kawakami. We are concerned that the top two men out of the pen, Mike Gonzalez and Rafael Soriano, both have a history of arm problems. But alll that being said, the Braves will be very competitive.

The Marlins have a mix of good young players that led to a third place finish last season. They should be in the .500 range again this season, but will fall behind the Braves. Hanley Ramirez is one of the most exciting players to watch and this could be the year that Cameron Maybin develops into a star.

We'll just say this- the Nationals won't sniff fourth place.