With the conclusion of the 2018 MLB season, the Game Haus will be taking a look at each MLB team and their needs for the next season. We will also be looking at how addressing these concerns could help in the near future.
Today, we will be looking at the teams in the NL East.
Image courtesy of Miami News Times
The only bright side to the Miami Marlins’ outing was the fact that they did not break triple-digit losses. But that is far from a silver lining in the giant, charcoal-colored storm cloud hanging over them. Not only did the Marlins boast the worst record in the National League, but they also recorded the lowest home game attendance in the majors (by a lot).
Derek Jeter, Bruce Sherman and the rest of the crew will have their work cut for them in this rebuilding process, including getting their pitching and offense into fighting form. But who said putting out the fire that Jeffery Loria left the organization in was going to be easy?
With David Wright hanging up his cleats, the New York Mets will have to find the next men up to help lead the players. Sure, Jacob DeGrom is on everyone’s Cy Young list, but he can’t play every inning of every game. The Mets’ whole pitching roster averaged a >4.00 ERA combined in 2018. Not to mention New York’s offense messed up his “would-have-been-scary” pitching record, that now finished at 10-9.
New York’s batting order is tied with Philadelphia for the lowest batting average in all of baseball. The lack of run support has not only cost DeGrom a Cy Young, but also hindered them from reaching a winning record.
Image Courtesy of: The Sports Post
For a while, it seemed that the Phillies were joining the Eagles in bringing Philadelphia postseason glory. Not to mention they were neck-in-neck with Atlanta for the division pennant, but the Phillies started losing a lot at the worst time possible.
Now, in this off-season, Philadelphia will need to clean up their act for 2019, particularly their fielding and batting. The fielding for Philly was atrocious in 2018, recording the second most errors and second lowest fielding percentage as a unit (both better than only St. Louis). Plus, they are among five teams whose catchers have allowed 100 stolen bases or more. Their batting has not much better this past season. Besides sharing the worst team batting average claim with the Mets, their production is underwhelming and won’t pull them back into October any time soon.
This past season was somewhat disappointing. Dusty Baker was no longer their manager, and they were working in new skipper Dave Martinez. They only managed to reach a little above .500 last season.
Along with Bryce Harper hitting free agency, the Washington Nationals will need to beef up their roster, with more pitchers. Washington will also need someone to ramp up the offense in Harper’s place. Nats fans, on the other hand, will need to have faith in the Martinez. The road to taking back the division will not be easy, as is working in a change in command.
Image by Karl L. Moore and courtesy of baseballamerica.com
The Atlanta Braves exploded sooner than even some Braves fans anticipated. Even though they are not where they want to be, they took a huge step forward last season. That being said, improvements still need to be addressed.
They have a lot of youth hungry for victory in 2018. This did give them the division win, but their NLDS opponent, the Los Angeles Dodgers, had playoff experience on their side. LA would end up punching the Braves out in four games. For Atlanta, adding veteran leaders who have playoff experience would help the team moving forward. Their knowledge can be used in preparing for the bigger and brighter lights of the postseason in the near future.
Featured image courtesy of FiveThirtyEight
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