NL East Predictions

Hello again, well I've been busy lately, so I haven't been able to blog for a week, but now its time to go over the NL East, a division that was turned on its head last year.  This division last year got a major facelift in terms of the standings, and the perennial loser of the division won the division, the Nationals. There was some promise going into the year, but not much was expected of the Nationals, more from the Marlins and the Phillies, but how that changed.

Washington Nationals

2012 Record: 98-64

Manager: Davey Johnson

Projected Starting Pitchers: Steven Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, Jordan Zimmerman, Ross Detwiler, Dan Haren

Projected Starting Fielders: C Kurt Suzuki, 1B Adam Laroche, 2B Danny Espinosa, SS Ian Desmond, 3B Ryan Zimmerman, LF Bryce Harper, CF Denard Span, RF Jayson Werth

2012 Review: Well, everyone could've seen their rise coming, after all the high draft picks, they were bound to get talent, the question was only when? I personally didn't think that they'd be able to win the division just yet, too much young talent, with not enough experience, but I'm happy to say I was wrong. Strasburg was dominant at times, even with an innings limit that the organization put him on after Tommy John surgery in 2010, and I expect him to be better with a full season this year. Gio Gonzalez, besides having the best last name in any walk of life, had a surprising season, only in that he was able to put it all together and win 20+ games. The fact that they came within two games of winning 100 games, when they had been closer to losing 100+ games for years is nothing short of an amazing turnaround, and I expect them to continue their success.

2013 Outlook: More often then not, I would say that I don't expect a team like this to keep up the pace they had the prior year, after years of losing, but this team is different. The fact is, this team is young and unlike last year, they are going to likely have players like Strasburg and Harper for the entire year, instead of just half the season. This team is solid, and young, which means that they will likely have a lot of staying power, barring major injury problems, but I can't see them slipping much this year.

2013 Projected Wins: 95, but I could also see 100+

Atlanta Braves

2012 Record: 94-68

Manager: Fredi Gonzalez

Projected Starting Pitchers: Tim Hudson, Kraig Medlen, Paul Maholm, Mike Minor, Julio Teheran

Projected Starting Fielders: C Brian McCann, 1B Freddy Freeman, 2B Dan Uggla, SS Andrelton Simmons, 3B Juan Francisco, LF Justin Upton, CF BJ Upton, RF Jason Heyward

2012 Review: This team fought the whole season for the playoffs, and ended up on some questionable umpiring in the Wild Card play-in game, considering their record, it wasn't a bad year. I was glad to see them make the playoffs, with this having been Chipper Jones' last year, even if they only made the wildcard, they still won 94 games. While they didn't go far in the playoffs, this team will definitely be able to succeed in years to come, especially with the additions to this year's squad.

2013 Outlook: This is a good young team, with one major problem and another minor problem, the Washington Nationals, and the Philadelphia Phillies. They did get better with the additions of BJ and Justin Upton to add to the outfield, making it a dangerous outfield to run on with Jason Heyward in right. Some would say that giving up what they did was too much, but they also got immense talents, and gave young players a chance to perform this year. This division will be one to watch with them, the Nationals and the Phillies battling it out for the division and wildcard spots.

2013 Projected wins: 90

Philadelphia Phillies

2012 Record: 81-81

Manager: Charlie Manuel

Projected Starting Pitchers: Cole Hammels, Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Kyle Kendrick, John Lannan

Projected Starting Fielders: C Erik Kratz, 1B Ryan Howard, 2B Chase Utley, SS Jimmy Rollins, 3B Michael Young, LF John Mayberry, CF Ben Revere, RF Domonic Brown

2012 Review: Simply put, this team was absolutely ravaged by injuries up and down the lineup last year, and that contributed greatly to finishing .500, and missing the playoffs. I was genuinely surprised however, because they still have arguably the best top 3 starting pitchers in the game, and we all know pitching and defense win ballgames.

2013 Outlook: This team definitely can expect to do better this year, as they are no longer dealing with the rash of injuries that they were going into last year. As I stated in the review, they still have arguably the best 3 starting pitchers in the game, and that will help them succeed this year, as in past years. I can see them competing, but they still have to deal with the youth of the Nationals and Braves, and that could be a problem.

2013 Projected Wins: 85

New York Mets

2012 Record: 74-88

Manager: Terry Collins

Projected Starting Pitchers: Jonathan Niese, Johan Santana, Shawn Marcum, Dillon Gee, Matt Harvey

Projected Starting Fielders: C John Buck, 1B Ike Davis, 2B David Murphy, SS Ruben Tejada, 3B David Wright(still in question, may miss opening day with back), LF Lucas Duda, CF Collin Cowgill, RF Marlon Byrd

2012 Review: Well, what can I say, once again, we've come across a team, that I really had no clue about, but I'm going to do my best to give my opinion on them. The Mets have been consistently bad the last decade, and they have tried to throw money at the problem with not a lot of success.

2013 Outlook: As I said, I have almost no clue about this team, and can only go off of what I see with the rest of the National League East, and what I see is not good. They are at best 4th in their own division, and probably closer to the bottom 5 in the league then the middle of the pack. I can't see them having more wins then last year.

Projected 2013 Wins: 70

Florida Marlins

2012 Record: 69-93

Manager: Mike Redmond

Projected Starting Pitchers: Ricky Nolasco, Nathan Eovaldi, Wade LeBlanc, Henderson Alvarez, Justin Turner

Projected Starting Fielders: C Rob Brantly, 1B Logan Morrison, 2B Donovan Solano, SS Aveiny Hevacharria, 3B Placido Polanco, LF Juan Pierre, CF Justin Ruggiano, RF Giancarlo Stanton

2012 Review: This team had a lot of high expectations going into last year, and they severely underachieved, and therefore fired Ozzie Guillen. I have to say, its not necessarily Ozzie Guillen's fault however, he doesn't control how badly his team underachieves, especially the stars. With all this teams' moves going into 2012, they really shouldn't have been this bad, but needless to say, they were spectacularly bad.

2013 Outlook: What can I say? This team had yet another firesale this offseason, and the owner Jeffrey Lurie didn't even try to soften the blow, he actually blamed the fans in part for lack of attendance. This team got spectacularly worse, they traded away all of their key players with the exception of Giancarlo Stanton, which was surprising that they left anyone making money on the team. This team is just going to get worse, which is sad considering how Jeffrey Lurie got the Florida people to pay for their new stadium, and he gets to count his millions if not billions.

2013 Projected Wins: 60, and I could see closer to 50