4. National League East
The Miami Marlins have Giancarlo Stanton. We know that.
They also have Justin Bour and Christian Yelich, who are two of our most underrated players this season. Bour struggled against lefties last season, but the team plans on exposing him more to those pitchers to prove himself worthy. He slashed .264/.348/.475 last year, including 15 bombs and 51 RBI, and his numbers will improve with more games this time around.
Mets. Mets. Mets. The most notable improvement this season is the team’s pitching staff. A healthy pitching staff. Matt Harvey and Jacob deGromm return from abbreviated seasons in 2016, and of course Noah Syndergaard returns. He had a solid spring training for those of you keeping score at home.
When it comes to the Washington National they have Stephen Strasburg taking over the Opening Day responsibilities, and he will be doing something different when it comes to his pitching. Rather than pitching from the windup, he will opt to pitch from the stretch no matter what the runner scenario is.
“I’m not trying to reinvent myself, but just trying to simplify things as much as I can and be able to repeat my mechanics,” Strasburg said to USA Today.
This should prove successful for a guy who was obviously watching Yu Darvish and Carlos Carrasco, who also had success with the scenario.
We know about Bryce Harper, who will become a free agent in 2018, and Trea Turner should be having a successful full season with the team.
Notables: Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies