MLB Opening Day is less than a month away and it is time for my first division rankings. With the offseason of the Dodgers now being over, it is time to crown a new champion (hopefully). Now, we begin.
- Phillies
- Mets
- Braves
- Nationals
- Marlins
Phillies
Philadelphia has a VERY good pitching staff. Zach Wheeler is a stud and has been showing that since coming over from the Mets. He is a legit ace on this loaded rotation. Christopher Sanchez broke out last year and will look to be a great second man in the rotation for Philly. Aaron Nola, Ranger Suarez, and Jesus Luzardo have all shown that they can pitch at a high level. Suarez and Luzardo in particular are guys that would be higher than the 4 or 5 starters for almost any MLB team, excluding a handful of teams, a majority which are out west. Their bullpen can be shaky at times, but with that much firepower in the rotation, the bullpen may not have as many high leverage scenarios.
The fact I have not spoken once about the hitters for Philly should emphasize the level that this staff is at. For their hitters, I think Nick Castellanos is going to be an important piece to their season. If planes keep crashing at their rate, Bonds might need to take a seat and watch Nicky go to work. In all reality, he has the chance to show he is the best all around hitter on the team behind Harper while batting in an important part of their lineup. Other guys to watch out for are obviously Bryce Harper who should have a monster season, and Trea Turner who should continue to play better and better every year for Philly. Keep an eye of for Bryson Stott to make a comeback from his lackluster season last year and be a guy at the bottom of their order to keep things moving back to the top.
Mets
The NL East was starting to get hard to pick once Pete Alonso re-signed with the Mets. I wanted to put them at the top spot so badly, but with their recent pitching injuries, I do not have as much faith in them starting out as hot as I think they would need to in order to compete with the Phillies. Picking up the biggest name in free agency, Juan Soto, re-signing Pete Alonso, while still having some fun young guys thrown in there like Mark Vientos and Francisco Alvarez, this lineup alone, as I had said earlier, was making things hard for me to put them at second. Lindor had a very good playoff run last year and getting another taste of the NLCS should light something under him again. If baseball was a completely different sport and did not have pitching staffs, this lineup is my favorite of the NL East.
Braves
It was painful to put the Braves this low, but without Acuna, I do not have as much faith in their first month in a half of baseball to put them higher than 3. With an Olson regression last year, the increase in Marcell Ozuna’s offensive output was very big for their lineup. I like their addition of Jurickson Profar a lot, and I hope the Braves run into the Dodgers in the postseason for some Profar-Will Smith banter. They are returning a Cy Young in Chris Sale and we will see if he can. Spencer Schwellenbach will be a beast this year and I wouldn’t be surprised if he shows himself as the best pitcher on this rotation by the end of the season. I think possibly even better than Strider depends how he comes back from his Tommy John surgery. If their pitching rotation was less top heavy, or if Strider’s status was known by anyone other than the Braves and himself, they would be at the 2 spot in my standings.
Nationals + Marlins
For these last two teams, the Nationals and the Marlins, there are exciting players sporadically. I picked the Nationals higher because I believe they have the better lineup to score runs and a pitching staff that will be able to get enough wins to keep themselves out of the last spot. Dylan Crews will be fun to see for a full season along with more James Wood and I hope CJ Abrams, if he can stay out of the casinos. Sandy Alcantara could be another dark horse for a Cy Young level season, given how he has performed in the past and is looked upon, now after injury. He will be crucial to the Marlins having any bit of minor success in 2025. Xavier Edwards, who had 31 steals in 70 games last year, will most likely be their best offensive player yet again. He was able to acquire 2 WAR, the second best on the team in that category for the entire season, in his short sample.
These will be published every Tuesday and Thursday until the 13th. There will be a schedule below.
Th Feb 27: AL East
Tu Mar 4: NL West
Th Mar 6: AL West
Tu Mar 11: AL Central
Th Mar 13: NL Central