The National League East features some of the most dominant starting pitching in baseball, with young power arms such as Stephen Strasburg and Jose Fernandez, or a Matt Harvey, when he’s healthy.
But even where Harvey and his injured elbow have left off for the Mets, they’ve got hard-throwing Zack Wheeler ready for his first full season and prospect Noah Syndergaard knocking on the door.
“Obviously I’m biased because I’ve only been in the NL East, but I think the NL East has the toughest starting pitching,” said Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman, who pointed out he can compare it with the American League teams he’s seen in interleague play and spring training. “You know, day in and day out, you’re facing Jose Fernandez, Gio Gonzalez, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, Strasburg, (Jordan) Zimmermann. It’s one guy after another. You never get a breather in the NL East.”
Amid that standard of power pitching, then, where do the division-defending champion Braves fit in?
The Braves’ rotation lacked a little star quality to begin with, and then this spring they watched projected opening-day starter Kris Medlen and fourth starter Brandon Beachy go down on back-to-back days with torn elbow ligaments. Both underwent their second career Tommy John operations shortly thereafter, and like Harvey, are out for the 2014 season.
Apparently, though, in a pitching-rich environment, the second wave can’t be too shabby either. Braves general manager Frank Wren signed All-Star Ervin Santana within a week of those injuries, and added veteran Aaron Harang the last week of camp, knowing Mike Minor and Gavin Floyd should be back soon as well. With those moves, the Braves still think they’re right there in the division hunt.
“The NL East is pretty stacked this year,” Braves second baseman Dan Uggla said. “Me being on the Atlanta Braves, I like us to win the NL East. Everybody has a good team, everybody has a chance. But I like our chances better than anybody else’s.”
As for why? “We have a great lineup,” Uggla said. “With the loss of Medlen and Beachy, we still have good starting pitching, and we still have the best bullpen, in my opinion, in the league.”
Closer Craig Kimbrel brings star quality to the back end of the Braves’ bullpen, something that none of the other division rivals can claim. And the Braves’ bullpen ERA of 2.46 last season led the majors. The rest of the division was middle of the pack in the National League at best in relief ERA: the Marlins (seventh), Nationals (11th), Mets (12th) and Phillies (15th). And it’s not like any of the other teams made bold moves with their bullpens this offseason to close the gap.
But one of the moves the Braves kept a close eye on was made by the Nationals, the second-place finishers in the NL East last year, who traded for Doug Fister to be their fourth starter. Fister brings the experience of three postseasons with the Tigers, putting up a 2.98 ERA in seven starts and one relief appearance, though he has struggled with injuries this spring to his elbow and lat muscle and likely will miss his first scheduled start.
And if you ask Uggla, Fister, along with Strasburg, Gonzalez, Zimmermann and Ross Detwiler put the Nationals’ rotation in rare company.
“The Nationals have arguably the best starting five in the big leagues,” Uggla said. “The Mets and the Marlins have some of the best up-and-coming arms in the big leagues. The Phillies have some of the best veterans in the big leagues. We’ve got good solid pitching with guys that know how to pitch and compete.”
The Nationals still figure to be the team to beat. They have a similar makeup and feel to the one which won the division in 2012 and finished 10 games out last season. New manager Matt Williams is out to prove that the 2013 finish was the anomaly. Former Brave Adam LaRoche, who is entering his fourth season as the Nationals’ first baseman, thinks so.
“I still look back at last year, and I’m not sure of where things went wrong,” LaRoche said. “I hate to say never, but I find it hard to believe that we, this team, could play that poor for that long. It’s really one of those you forget about and move forward this year.”
LaRoche is in a similar situation as Uggla, having hit a career-low .237 last season, while Uggla hit a career-low .179. And like Uggla, he sees reason for optimism, based on the makeup of the Nationals when he and his teammates perform to their normal abilities and stay healthy.
The Braves need Uggla and B.J. Upton (who hit .184 in his first season with the Braves) to perform to their normal capability. The Nationals could use more consistency from LaRoche and Denard Span (.263 the first half, .302 the second). The Nationals would love a full season of good health from Bryce Harper — who missed 44 games last season with knee problems. The Braves need Jason Heyward (appendicitis, broken jaw) on the field more consistently.
“You always come out of spring going ‘This is our year,’ but you know when you have a legit shot to be competitive,” said LaRoche, who offered his years with the Pirates as proof that he could be objective. “If you’ve got a team where you don’t have to have a handful of players have phenomenal years, like career years, to be competitive, you’re pretty good. When you look around, there are good teams. The Braves have got one, where if everybody does what they’re capable of doing, you’ve got a great team.”
The Phillies could make a case, but the Mets and Marlins would have a tougher time. The Phillies’ roster has plenty of cachet, but what’s working against them is a quick look down the “date of birth” column. The Phillies’ lineup is anchored by Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard and Chase Utley, all in their mid-30s and plagued in recent years by injuries, and their rotation may have gotten stronger, but not younger, with the addition of A.J. Burnett, who is 37.
The Mets have had five consecutive losing seasons. It remains to be seen how much of an impact their free-agent acquisitions of Curtis Granderson and Chris Young will have on their underperforming outfield. The Marlins, coming off a 100-loss season, have some dynamic pitching with Fernandez, Nathan Eovaldi and Henderson Alvarez, but didn’t exactly wow with offseason acquisitions of former Braves Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Rafael Furcal.
Justin Upton, for one, though, wasn’t overly concerned with what’s what on other team’s rosters as he prepared for his second season with the Braves.
“All we can worry about is taking care of our own business,” Upton said. “If we do what we’re supposed to do, play the way we’re supposed to play, we’ll be fine.”
