Post-Trade Deadline Predictions: National League

This article is the second in a series of three, in which I pick the eight-playoff teams and then the World Series winner.

Today I will focus on the National League.

NATIONAL LEAGUE:

EAST –

The pick: PHILLIES

There has not been a single team in the NL East that has seized control of first place and ran away with it. This race has been neck-in-neck all season long, as the Phillies, Mets, and Marlins have all taken turns leading their division.

Do I expect one of these three to eventually pull away from the rest?

The answer to that would be a resounding ‘no.’

Much like the AL East, the race to the finish line in the NL East will be an exciting one.

My pick here is the Phillies, even though I still believe it’s pretty much a crapshoot.

The Phillies have what is arguably the most dangerous lineup in the majors, leading all 30 teams in the home runs departments (the Marlins rank second).

They’ve got three guys with over 25 long balls – Ryan Howard (31), Chase Utley (27), and Pat Burrell (27) – and defending National League MVP Jimmy Rollins has been known to take pitchers yard as well.

Not to mention, Utley has been touted as one of the favorites to win MVP this season; if so, it would be the third year in a row that a Phillies player has won the award (Howard won it in 2006, Rollins in 2007).

With all that power, it’s no wonder that outscoring the Phillies is quite a formidable task. Among National League clubs, they rank second to only the Chicago Cubs in runs scored.

Therefore, their pitching doesn’t have to be superb.

Cole Hamels, their hands-down number-one starter, is a strikeout machine and more than likely a future Cy Young Award winner.

Jamie Moyer can still go out and get quality starts despite being a fossil of major league baseball. 
Then there’s Joe Blanton, who the Phillies got from the Oakland A’s around mid-July before the trade deadline. Most would consider Blanton a ‘C-list’ starting pitcher, but, as I just said, their pitching is expected to be efficient; not exceptional.

In the closer’s role, Brad Lidge has found his swagger once again. Lidge has 27 saves on the season, second-best in the National League, and is looking more like the Brad Lidge of 2004 and 2005 that slammed the door shut for the Houston Astros. He is a perfect 27-for-27 on saves to this point.

Another reason why I like the Phillies to take the NL East is because there’s more that I don’t like about the Mets and Marlins.

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?