NL East Report

Monday, April 25 2005 @ 06:00 AM EDT

Contributed by: Pistol

Welcome to the inaugural edition of the NL East Divisional Update, one of the new additions to Batters Box 3.0. Every two weeks we'll look at what's going on in the NL East.

Standings as of April 24th:

TEAM             W	L	 PCT   GB	
Florida	        11	8	.579	-	
Atlanta	        11	8	.579	-	
NY Mets	        10	9	.526	1
Washington	10	9	.526	1	
Philadelphia	 8     11	.421	3	

The following chart will show where each team is in the standings (by winning percentage) at the time of each report. Obviously it won't capture minor rises and falls within the period (like the Mets slow start followed by a hot streak), but should give a good indication of the race over the season.





Prior to the season most people felt that each team in the division except the Nationals would have a chance to win the division. However, the former Expos have stuck with the leaders in the division so far.

Atlanta Braves
Overall Record: 11-8
Run Differential: +16
Record in last period: 11-8

The Braves pitching staff has started off well, ranking second in the NL in ERA. Tim Hudson and Mike Hampton have started off strong for Atlanta. After giving up a run in Saturday's win Hudson saw his ERA rise to 0.96 in 28 innings of work. Mike Hampton also got off to a hot start with a 1.17 ERA over 30 innings. John Smoltz didn't make it out of the second inning in his first start, but since then has only given up 5 runs in 21 innings with 28 Ks and only 3 walks.

The other major acquisition for the Braves, Danny Kolb, has struggled early on despite having 6 saves. Two blown saves has led to an ugly 6.48 ERA.

While the Braves pitching has been quite impressive so far their offense has been nearly as bad as their pitching has been good as only the Pirates and Reds have scored fewer runs in the NL.

Chipper Jones is off to a strong start and Marcus Giles, when he's played, has played well. After that it's been ugly.

NAME		AB	 BA	 OBP	 SLG
Rafael Furcal	81	.210	.253	.333
Andruw Jones	69	.188	.256	.333
Brian Jordan	64	.250	.304	.313	
Raul Mondesi	62      .242	.262	.403
J. Estrada	53	.208	.271	.283
Adam LaRoche	52	.231	.355	.404

What’s on Deck: At NY for three games followed by a nine game homestand against St Louis, Florida and Houston.

Florida Marlins
Overall Record: 11-8

Run Differential: +36

Record in last period: 11-8

While the Braves pitching has been great in the early going the Marlins pitching has been exceptional. Florida's ERA of 2.27 is tops in the NL. The starters have received a lot of notice for their five complete games, but when the relievers have been used they've been quite effective as well - only one reliever has an ERA over 2.00, and that's only in two innings of work.

Starters        IP	HR	BB	SO	ERA
Josh Beckett	27.0	0	10	30	1.00
D. Willis	30.0	2	4	21	1.50
Brian Moehler	19.2	2	6	13	1.83
A.J. Burnett	30.0	1	10	27	2.40
Al Leiter	20.2	2	12	12	5.66

Relievers       IP	HR	BB	SO	ERA
Jim Mecir	6.1	0	2	6	1.42
A. Alfonseca	5.2	1	3	2	1.59
Matt Perisho	5.0	0	2	3	1.80
G. Mota	        9.2	0	4	7	1.86
Nate Bump	9.2	2	2	3	1.86
Todd Jones	9.0	0	5	5	2.00
John Riedling	2.0	1	2	0	9.00

The Marlin offense is in the middle of the pack, ranking 7th in the NL in runs scored/game. Leading the way is Juan Encarnacion who is off to a hot start, hitting .277/.373/.508 with 19 RBIs while Paul LoDuca is having another strong early start to the season hitting .368/.439/.456. On the other side of things Mike Lowell is off to a slow start at .183/.224/.310.

What’s on Deck: The Marlins start an 8 game road trip in Colorado, followed by trips to Philadelphia and Atlanta. After the road trip Florida returns home to face the Rockies.

New York Mets
Overall Record: 10-9

Run Differential: +11

Record in last period: 10-9

The Mets are one game over .500, but they got there the hard way dropping their first five games of the season before winning the next six.

The Mets team ERA of 4.07 ranks 8th in the NL. Pedro Martinez has adjusted nicely to the NL with a 2.17 ERA in 29 innings, including a 38/4 K/BB ratio. The remainder of the rotation has been a bit of an adventure as it appears there's a contest to see who can lead the team in walks.

Pitcher          IP	HR	BB	SO	ERA
V. Zambrano	22.1	3	14	19	5.64
Tom Glavine	22.2	1	13	16	3.97
K. Ishii	18.2	2	13	14	4.82
Aaron Heilman	18.0	3	4	13	6.00

A DL stint will slow Ishii down and he's been replaced in the rotation by Jae Seo.

The bullpen has had its good and bad moments to start the year, but on average has been, well, average. The one exception is the surprising resurgence of Roberto Hernandez who hasn't allowed a run in eight appearances.

New York is off to a good start on offense, ranking 3rd in the NL in runs scored (and one of the teams ahead of them is the Rockies) despite not getting much from Mike Piazza. The two big hitters on the team are a bit of a surprise:

Player          AB      BB	SO	 BA	 OBP	 SLG
Cliff Floyd	50	 5	12	.360	.418	.600
Victor Diaz	47	12	13	.362	.492	.702	

Diaz, picked up in the Jeromy Burnitz trade, is playing in place of the injured Mike Cameron. If he continues playing well he could very possibly force a trade of Cameron.

What’s on Deck: At home against the Braves and then on the road in Washington. The yo-yo continues the folling week with 4 at home against the Phillies followed by three in Milwaukee.

Philadelphia Phillies
Overall Record: 8-11

Run Differential: -28

Record in last period: 8-11

The Phillies have been a streaky team so far this season. In 19 games they've managed three 3 game losing streaks and two 3 game winning streaks.

Pitching has been the problem in the early going for the Phillies as their 5.34 ERA is only better than the Rockies. Jon Lieber has won all four of his starts, Brett Myers has a 1.71 ERA, Cory Lidle has been perfectly acceptable and Billy Wagner and Aaron Fultz have been strong out of the pen. After that it goes downhill in a hurry:

NAME	         IP	HR	BB     SO	WHIP	ERA
Randy Wolf	24.0	3	5      17	1.50	6.38
V. Padilla	 6.0	5	5	6	2.83   18.00
Gavin Floyd	14.0	4      12	4	2.07   14.14
Rheal Cormier	 5.0	1	2	3	2.20	7.20
Terry Adams	 7.2	2	5	3	1.83	5.87
Ryan Madson	10.0	1	2	8	1.30	5.40
Tim Worrell	 7.0	2	0	8	1.57	7.71
Pedro Liriano	 4.2	4       1	2	1.71	7.71

The Phillies potent offense hasn't been that to begin the season ranking 12th in the NL in runs scored. Pat Burrell and Kenny Lofton have started out strong, but the power expected from the rest of the lineup hasn't shown up yet.

Player          AB	 BA	 OBP	 SLG	
Pat Burrell	69	.304	.386	.580	
Bobby Abreu	71	.268	.369	.366	
Jim Thome	63	.222	.367	.333	
M. Lieberthal	55	.218	.295	.309	
David Bell	69	.232	.293	.362	
Jimmy Rollins	80	.275	.326	.388	
Kenny Lofton	44	.364	.429	.523	
P. Polanco	42	.262	.367	.310	
Chase Utley	35	.286	.316	.486	

What’s on Deck: At Washington, Florida, at NY, at Chicago.

Washington Nationals
Overall Record: 10-9

Run Differential: -11

Record in last period: 10-9

The Nationals rank 12th in the NL with a 4.85 ERA are have been led by John Patterson and a strong bullpen. Patterson has given up just 2 earned runs in 21 innings. With the exception of Joe Horgan and Antonio Osuna (currently on the DL), who each got rocked in a couple appearances, the bullpen has been great.

NAME	       IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	WHIP	ERA
Gary Majewski	5.2	3	0	0	3	5	1.06	0.00
H. Carrasco	3.1	1	0	0	0	2	0.30	0.00
T.J. Tucker	5.1	4	0	0	1	2	0.94	0.00
Chad Cordero	9.2	11	1	1	2	10	1.34	0.93
Luis Ayala	11.1	10	4	1	1	8	0.97	3.18
Joey Eischen	8.0	7	3	0	3	5	1.25	3.38

Washington is 10th in the NL in runs/game, but are ranked 3rd in OPS. Three quarters of the infield is providing most of the punch, particularly Vinny Castilla who's hitting like he's still in Coors, while the other one quarter is punchless.

NAME	        AB	 BA	 OBP	 SLG	
V. Castilla	57	.386	.435	.684	
Jose Vidro	67	.328	.397	.627	
B. Wilkerson	78	.346	.407	.577	
Jose Guillen	74	.311	.325	.595	
Nick Johnson	66	.303	.425	.409	
B. Schneider	55	.218	.279	.364	
C. Guzman	70	.171	.203	.243	

What’s on Deck: Home this week against the Mets and Phillies followed by road trips to LA and San Francisco.

Wrap up: Nearing the first furlong of the season there isn't much separating the teams as the difference between first place and last place is just three games. I don't think anything has changed in this time to change preseason expectations. When the National's bats cool off and Philadelphia's bats heat up this should turn into a four horse race.

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