NL East Odds
The Nationals have acquitted themselves quite well through the course of the first 90 games of the Dusty Baker era. Will the National League leaders be able to stave off a couple of hard-charging rivals down the stretch, though?
Handicappers recommend keeping the faith. Online sports book Bovada.lv gives Washington odds of -400 to take the division, while the Mets and Marlins remain in play as +400 and +800 underdogs, respectively. As for the Braves and Phillies, well, there’s always 2017.
In the here and now, obviously, the Nats are rolling. Their run differential of plus-105 trails only the Cubs (plus-139) in all of Major League Baseball. Even if the .348-hitting Daniel Murphy slows down a tad, Baker should be able to bank on a better second half from Bryce Harper. Following a torrid April, the reigning MVP went AWOL for nearly two whole months. We can’t imagine him shying away from the spotlight as October nears.
While the big boppers command a lot of the attention, however, don’t discount the importance of a pitching staff that paces the bigs in ERA (3.29). Steven Strasburg and Max Scherzer have combined to go 22-6, with a preposterous 296 punchouts between them. The bullpen suddenly feels more confident, too, with the return of Jonathan Papelbon from an intercostal strain.
Unfortunately for the Mets, injures continue to ravage the defending NL champs. Outfielder Yoenis Cespedes (.302/.372/.583) and starting hurler Noah Syndergaard (9-4, 2.56) bowed out of Tuesday’s Midsummer Classic, but neither will miss much additional time. The same doesn’t apply to veteran stalwarts Matt Harvey (thoracic outlet syndrome) and David Wright (herniated disk).
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Since everybody in the five boroughs expects Bartolo Colon (7-4, 3.28) to fall off sooner rather than later, the onus falls on Jacob deGrom to recapture his All-Star form of a season ago. The fireballer’s definitely capable of reaching ridiculous heights alongside Syndergaard, so look for New York’s rotation to help whittle the deficit. Closer Jeurys Familia (31 saves in 43 appearances) also dominates at the back end, justifying manager Terry Collins’ coolness at the moment.
As the Nationals and Mets fight for the most ink, though, Miami just keeps chugging along. Although we’re less than enamored with the rotation as a whole, ace Jose Fernandez (11-2, 2.54) supplies Grade A stuff every week. Throw in a surging Giancarlo Stanton and pleasant surprise Marcell Ozuna (.307/.360/.533), and you’re left with a squad that stands a legitimate chance of finally reaching the playoffs again.
Nonetheless, Washington appears unlikely to budge from the top spot. Baker has his guys humming at home (27-15), and the crispness with which they compete effectively erases all memories of Matt Williams’ sloppy bunch of 2015. Natitude’s back, indeed, in full effect.
FREE NL EAST PICK: NATIONALS -400