Touring the NL East

Busy Day so just a tour around the NL East while I hope for John Lannan to pitch 7 innings of 8 hit, 3 walk, 1 K shutout baseball.


Currently the Phillies' worst WHIP for a starter is 1.12. And it's Cliff Lee. The offense is hanging on but Utley better get back soon. It's only a passing offense right now and Rollins, Polanco, and Victorino are all probably hitting above their heads a little bit.

I don't hear a lot of Marlins chatter but the team is legitimately good and has the 3rd best record in baseball. Their hitting has been good (5th in NL in runs scored) and that's while Hanley Ramirez has struggled terribly (.198 /.308 /. 277). Both 23 year old Logan Morrison (.327 / .424 / .636) and 21 year old Mike Stanton (.253 / .343 /.529) are great. They are also 5th in the East in runs allowed. Forget Halladay and Lee, Josh Johnson is the best starter in the NL (0.88 ERA)

The Braves were 7-8 with Heyward batting 5th or 6th, 10-6 with him batting 2nd. It probably really doesn't matter but we like karma rewarding good decision. What no one really talks about though is that they are batting the worst hitter on their team (Prado) first. Sure he'll get better but the guy leads the league in at bats and has a .299 OBP. He's creating a ton of outs right now. Pretty sweet pitching here too. Highest non-Derek Lowe whip? 1.02 for Tommy Hanson. (and Lowe has been pretty good) Johnny Venters has 15 Ks and 5 hits given up in 15 2/3 IP.

Told you the Mets were bad. The whole "who needs Carlos Beltran - we have Angel Pagan!" nonsense has come crashing down with Pagan hitting .159 /.259 / .246. He's not that bad but he's not that good either. Ike Davis is for real though. Of course the real problem is the starting pitching. Only Chris Young has been decent. Pelfrey has been terrible (7.39 ERA, 1.964 WHIP) and he was supposed to be their best pitcher with Santana out. Also the "At least we got R A Dickey!" crowd has come back to Earth, too. Funny how a fanbase can get on actual talented players like Wright, Beltran, & Santana so much then swoon the minute a meh guy has a career year.

In other news:

For those hoping that Manny Acta's Cleveland Indians would be overtaken soon - none of the presumed favorites in the Central are just suffering from bad luck. In fact 2, the Twins and the Tigers are actually out performing their pythagoran W-L record. The Twins "should be" 8-21 and are the luckiest team in the league. (The unluckiest? The Braves. Don't buy those WC tickets just yet, Nats fans)