Pennant Fever - NL East

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-Digger's Daily-

National League baseball has been topsy turvy all season long. Classic battles are raging in each division. Teams in the playoff hunt had better beware of potential spoilers filled with players looking to secure their futures. Washington ran off 8 straight wins this month. San Diego 4 of 5. Arizona is 7-4 in August. No lead is safe as summertime heat gets turned up full throttle. My take on the NL East....

World Series Champs Philadelphia Phillies (62-48) have their fans sitting on edge lately. After a 20-7 July, they're stumbling in August (3-6). The suddenly surging Marlins swept three in Philly including a final game 12-3 romp over vet Moyer who lost his rotation spot to Pedro Martinez. Pedro makes his first start of 2009 for his new team tonight. Phils lineup is struggling to plate runs and bullpen woes continue to haunt. Closing in quickly is Florida (5 wins in a row) and Atlanta (4 in a row). When will Ryan Howard stop striking out at alarming rates (137 in 109 games)? I'm guessing the Phils are having a temporary lull and will snap out of it. Question is ... will they wake up before it's too late? I'm beginning to believe they will have a hard time qualifying as a wild card.

Florida Marlins (60-52) 5 straight wins has them hot on Phillies tail trailing by 3.5 games. These young Marlins can smell blood and are starting to believe. Florida's recently history has been to fade down the stretch. Right now, their bats are alive and well after struggling to find consistency most of the season. If their pitchers can start keeping teams to 4 or less runs then watch out... these fish will swim. I like the Marlins. They play inspired baseball with nothing to lose since no one expects them to win. Dangerous team if they stay hot.

Atlanta Braves (59-54) have come alive winning 4 in a row and 6 of 7. Since June 28th, they're 25-14. It's been all about pitching for the Braves. Rotation is getting stronger. Vasquez (2.90 ERA), Jurrjens (3.01), Hanson (3.05), Kawakami (4.12) & Lowe (4.15) compose the best cumulative 1-5 rotation in NL. Team ERA is 3.70. If Atlanta has one weakness, it's their lack of power. Chipper Jones leads with 15 HR's. They manage to score runs even without big power numbers. New acquisitions have helped energize their attack (Church, LaRoche). Bullpen has been very stingy and effective. Manager Bobby Cox is showing why he's one of baseball's best. Watch out for the Braves! I've never been a big Braves "fan". As of this very moment, they're the most well balanced team in the East. History shows, good pitching wins games. Braves sporting East's best staff top to bottom and will silence opponents down the stretch.

Prediction: Atlanta wins East in final week. I'll reserve judgement on whether or not Philadelphia has enough in the tank for a wild card birth. Marlins pitching needs to get better for them to make a September surge. 1-Atlanta, 2-Philadelphia, 3-Florida.

On deck... NL Central.

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