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 BravesOverall 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 MarlinsOverall 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 MetsOverall 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 PhilliesOverall 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 NationalsOverall 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.
