James Shields
Padres RHP James Shields

1. The National League West is going to be one heck of a race.

The Padres added yet another weapon to their arsenal and got rid of some toxic assets. Lets hope the Melvin (B.J.) Upton Jr. doesn’t become a sour influence on his brother again like he did in Atlanta and can accept his role as a fourth outfielder. Any time you add a dominate closer like Craig Kimbrel to your staff, you always get better.

Not to mention that the Giants are coming off a World Series title and always find a way to win with less talent, the Dodgers aren’t going anywhere either. Arizona will be dreadful but the Rockies will score runs by the touchdown, so they can spoil anyone’s party on any given day.

Ryan Howard

2. Philadelphia might not win 5o games.

The Phillies got destroyed by Boston today and it didn’t look pretty. They got three hit through seven innings by Clay Buchholz. The same Clay Buchholz who has an ERA of over five last season. Their pitching got roughed up as well, yielding eight earned runs including four by Cole Hamels. Hamels will likely be traded before the end of the season and one of the most mentioned destinations for him is Boston. So it is safe to say he didn’t do well in his in person audition to move to the American League East.

Yankees RHP Masahiro Tanaka
Yankees RHP Masahiro Tanaka

 

3. The American League East is going to be dreadful.

The Yankees are going to be blah, the Orioles have taken a step back, the Blue Jays have six rookies as major contributors, the Rays are rebuilding, and the Red Sox don’t have very much pitching. This division could be an absolute disaster, at the same time a team like Boston could win more than 90 games, but not be as good as the third place team in the American League Central.

The Yankees don’t have any pitching to speak of especially with Masihiro Tanaka pitching with half an elbow and as a result, he’s afraid to throw his fastball. CC Sabathia is toast and Michael Pineda is very inconsistent. Add all that to a bad bullpen outside of the 8th and 9th inning guys, and this team should be a disaster.

The Blue Jays could be very good. But counting that much on rookie players is a huge gamble that very rarely pays off for just one player, let alone six. They have to the talent to win the division running away, but could also finish last if their rookies don’t perform well and one of their big guns gets hurt.

2015 ASTROS SPRING TRAINING
Astros LHP Dallas Keuchel

 

 

4. The Houston Astros should be pretty good.

They pitched themselves to a two-nothing shutout on opening day after getting no hit for half the game by reigning Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber. Their offense should score plenty of runs, but do they have the star power to get to other teams aces? Only time will tell.

David Wright
Mets 3B David Wright

 

 

5. Watch out for those pesky Mets.

Will they hit enough? Will their bullpen get tough outs? Will their pitching stay healthy? Can they swing a deadline deal to improve the offense, mortgaging a bit of the future? If they answer yes to the majority of these questions, they very well could win the National League East. The division is wide open, especially because the Braves and Phillies will be awful. They will have to beat out the Nationals, but a team like Washington that has so much hype, rarely lives up to the expectations.