Domonic Brown and 5 Young NL East Players Ready to Explode

The NL East is starting to look like their American League counterparts, as it is loaded with talent from top to bottom.

The Philadelphia Phillies will again be the odds-on favorite to win the World Series in 2012. The Miami Marlins added some of the top free agents available in Jose Reyes and Mark Buehrle, and the Atlanta Braves have a great pitching staff and some of the top prospects in baseball. Don't sleep on the Washington Nationals either, who will have a healthy Stephen Strasburg and have been linked to Prince Fielder.

Which prospects are ready to break out in 2012? Here are five NL East prospects who are ready to explode this season.

Julio Teheran

It's not often that a 20-year-old pitcher with a rocket for an arm can spot his mid-90s fastball as well as Julio Teheran. Teheran was the top pitching prospect prior to the 2011 season, and for good reason.

He has a lively fastball, an excellent changeup and a curveball that drops off the map. He still needs work locating his off-speed pitches, but he is certainly a top-of-the-rotation guy that will be tormenting hitters in the NL East for years to come.

Teheran was 15-3 in Triple-A and got a small taste of the big leagues in 2011. That experience will prove invaluable this season.

Teheran is ready to show MLB hitters why he was the top-ranked pitching prospect last season.

Stephen Strasburg

Stephen Strasburg entered MLB as one of the most hyped pitchers ever. His 100 mph fastball and sharp breaking ball garnered him the highest contract out of college ever.

Strasburg tore a ligament in his arm that required Tommy John surgery and forced him to miss more than a year of action. His changeup and curveball are so good that he will still be dominant even if he can not throw 100 anymore.

The young righty is a fierce competitor, and he wants to show the country that he was worthy of his massive contract. He will once again be a dominating pitcher in 2012.

Bryce Harper

Bryce Harper may be young and cocky, but he may have a reason to be, as he is one of baseball's top prospects. The Washington Nationals are going to give Harper every opportunity to win an OF spot out of spring training, as no one can deny the kid's talents.

The first pick in the 2010 draft, he hit .333 in MLB action and could be the Nationals' everyday right fielder, with Jayson Werth shifting to CF. Harper is a five-tool player that could break out this season like Freddie Freeman did in 2011.

You don't have to like the kid, but you will respect him after watching him play.

Domonic Brown

Domonic Brown has been the Philadelphia Phillies' top prospect for two years, according to Baseball America, and the team was unwilling to include him in deals for Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Hunter Pence.

The Phillies still think their five-tool prospect is going to be pretty good.

Brown was expected to be the everyday RF in 2011 until he suffered a broken hamate bone in spring training. Injuries like the hamate take a calender year to fully heal and allow a player to regain their power from the plate.

Ryan Howard is likely to miss action early in the season, and John Mayberry Jr. may be the guy to fill in at 1B. Look for Brown to make the most of an opportunity to play LF while Howard is recovering from surgery on his Achilles.

A healthy and productive Domonic Brown would be huge for a Phillies team that has seen its lineup let them down every post-season since 2008. Expectations for Brown entering last season were so high, and now he has the opportunity to fly under the radar and be the type of player everyone in the organization knows he can be.

This article in Sports Illustrated suggests that Domonic Brown will be a breakout star in 2012 as well.

Jayson Heyward

The 22-year-old had a forgettable 2011 season where he hit only .227, and Freddie Freeman became the young superstar of the Atlanta Braves. Everyone around MLB thought that Jason Heyward was going to have the type of season that Mike Stanton had for the Florida (Miami) Marlins in 2011.

Sports Illustrated thinks that Heyward is finally healthy and ready to live up to his potential this season.

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If you miss out on Stanton, Heyward is going to be a nice option rounds later. He struggled with his shoulder and the consistency of his swing, but he has 30-100-100-30 potential. It wouldn't be all that surprising to see him even outproduce Stanton in fantasy because of the steals and better strikeout-to-walk rate.

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Heyward is a true five-tool talent that has now had an entire offseason to adjust to major league pitching. He is a smart kid with all of the talent in the world, and he will shine in 2012.

That's great news for an Atlanta Braves team that nearly made the playoffs with such little production from their young outfielder.

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