The Phillies’ NL East rivals are all in win-now mode
The Phillies are listed fourth in the NL East among local bookies with a projected win total of 81.5. Here are some notes, trivia and projected lineups for their division rivals.
The Phillies have some stiff competition in the National League East. Most betting houses, in fact, have odds that they’ll finish fourth and do well just to finish .500.
Here’s some quick notes and fun facts on their division rivals.
Atlanta
O/U wins: 91.5 (via PointsBet)
The rotation will get a boost when Mike Soroka returns from the torn Achilles he suffered in August. Soroka made just three starts last season after going 13-4 with a 2.68 ERA in 2019. He was 22 when he made the 2020 opening-day start, the youngest Braves pitcher ever to start the season’s first game. Max Fried, 27, will start the 2021 opener when Atlanta visits the Phillies on Thursday.
Fried, who was fifth in Cy Young voting, was 7-0 last season, with two of those wins coming against the Phillies. He gave up one run in 10 innings to the Phils.
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The Braves have won the division the last three seasons, but they blew a 3-1 lead to the Dodgers in last year’s NLCS. “These guys are getting older and more experienced,” manager Brian Snitker told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “They’ve tasted just a little bit more every year. Getting within a game of the World Series last year just fuels these guys, their competitiveness.”
Reigning MVP Freddie Freeman is the fourth choice on DraftKings’ board to repeat at 12-1. Teammate Ronald Acuna is at 8-1. The Dodgers’ Mookie Betts (15-2 at DK) is the consensus betting favorite for NL MVP.
Miami
O/U wins: 72.5
The Marlins Made an admirable run to the postseason last year, even beat the Cubs in the wild-card round. The shortened season and expanded playoff field had a lot to do with it, but going 31-29 in the regular season after losing 105 games in 2019 was laudable.
Sixto Sánchez, acquired from the Phillies in the J.T. Realmuto deal, is among the early favorites for NL rookie of the year. Sánchez, 22, gave up one earned run in three spring starts over eight innings. He was 3-2, 3.76 in seven starts in 2020, but he is not on the opening roster as he builds up his pitch count.
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The Marlins went 7-3 against the Phillies last season but don’t play the Phils until May 18-20, when they visit Citizens Bank Park.
Adam Duvall was signed as a free agent and will play right field. Duvall hit 16 homers in 57 games last season for Atlanta, playing during the pandemic despite having Type-1 diabetes. He signed for $5 million this season after playing for $3.25 million last year.
N.Y. Mets
O/U wins: 90.5
The Mets have a new owner, team president, and general manager and during the spring had 18 new players on the 40-man roster. The lineup remains mostly intact except for the addition of shortstop Francisco Lindor, acquired in a trade with Cleveland.
Lindor, a two-time Gold Glover, showed up to spring training with his hair dyed blue. (I like this guy.) His arrival could directly benefit starting pitcher Marcus Stroman, who was acquired at the 2019 deadline from the Blue Jays and opted out last season. In his career, 58.7% of balls in play are ground balls. The MLB average is 44.0%. As analytics go, that’s pretty interesting.
“You don’t have any teams that are rebuilding. Every team is trying to win, every team has a chance to win. Two teams in the division made the playoffs last year, and the year before that, the Nationals won the World Series. The Mets are significantly better, and I think Philadelphia is a lot better, too.”
New catcher James McCann hit .289 for the White Sox last season after making the 2019 AL All-Star team.
Pete Alonso has 69 home runs in 218 games, most in history for a player’s first 218. Rudy York (66) is second. Ryan Howard (63) is tied for fifth. Alonso’s bombs against NL East opponents: Washington 26, Atlanta 21, Miami 20, Phillies 13.
Washington
O/U wins: 84.5
Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, and Patrick Corbin are at the top of the rotation. The fourth starter, three-time World Series champ Jon Lester, is hoping to show there’s some gas left in his 37-year-old left arm.
The Nationals are hoping for rejuvenated seasons in the lineup as well, signing Josh Bell from Pittsburgh to play first and Kyle Schwarber to play right field.
Bell is the more intriguing addition. He hit 37 homers two years ago for the Pirates and tore it up during the spring. His mother is a college professor and his father a retired computer engineer who used to build him workout equipment when he was growing up near Dallas.
Curious to see what Juan Soto, 22, will hit this season after leading the National League at .351 in 2020. Soto batted .786 when he hit the first pitch of his plate appearances last season (11-for-14) and .444 in a more expanded sample size in 2019 (32-for-72). Bottom line: Pitchers need to watch those first-pitch cookies.
Phillies
O/U wins: 80.5