TBOH MLB Predictions: NL East
By Matt Veasey
The Philadelphia Phillies open the 2016 MLB season today, and we now present our TBOH NL East predictions.
Our annual process of polling the staff here at TBOH as to their predictions for the coming season has been completed, and so we’ve been rolling out those picks in a series of pieces. The other five divisions were released yesterday, and today it’s the Phillies and their immediate division rivals.
The TBOH staff have revealed our cumulative staff choice, as well as our individual picks, for the order of finish in each of Major League Baseball’s six divisions. We will later be releasing the two Wildcard teams from each league, and our World Series favorites.
To determine the staff cumulative pick for each division, I took the predicted order of finish from each of our writers and assigned a numerical value. Teams picked for first place received one point, teams picked to finish in fifth received five points. Thus, the lower your overall total points, the higher your predicted finish. The total points are listed next to each team name.
We’ll also be revealing our staffers picks for the Most Valuable Player Award in both the National and American Leagues, as well as the Cy Young Award and Rookie of the Year Award winners in both leagues in separate pieces later in the day.
Finally, our staffers have chosen their MLB manager who is most likely to become the first casualty of the season, the first to be fired this year.
Enjoy our picks, and we would love to hear your own. Please feel free to leave your choices in a comment. We’ll be sure to read them.
NATIONAL LEAGUE EAST DIVISION – Staff cumulative pick
- New York Mets (10) – bringing Yoenis Cespedes back was key for the defending NL champs, keeping Matt Harvey healthy will be as much so
- Washington Nationals (11) – Harper and Rendon will be around a long time, but this could otherwise be a last shot for the Nats recent core
- Miami Marlins (23) – if both Jose Fernandez and Giancarlo Stanton stay healthy, they could push the top two teams for a while
- Philadelphia Phillies (28) – a Maikel Franco coming out party, and a goodbye to Ryan Howard and Carlos Ruiz, as Phils rebuild continues
- Atlanta Braves (33) – is this a ‘homer’ pick, keeping the Phils from the basement? Five of our seven staffers put the Choppers in the basement
Matt Veasey – Washington, New York, Phillies, Miami, Atlanta
More from That Balls Outta Here
- Philadelphia Phillies bullpen could still struggle greatly in 2023 season
- Philadelphia Phillies: Most impactful transactions in 2022
- How will Rob Thomson manage the Philadelphia Phillies bullpen in 2023?
- How Phillies’ Ranger Suárez is set to build on 2022 postseason dominance
- What can Philadelphia Phillies expect from Bryson Stott in 2023?
Ethan Witte – New York, Washington, Miami, Atlanta, Phillies
Mike Azzalina – New York, Washington, Miami, Phillies, Atlanta
Alexis Girardo – Washington, New York, Miami, Phillies, Atlanta
Tyler DiSalle – Washington, New York, Miami, Atlanta, Phillies
Ryan Gerstel – New York, Washington, Phillies, Miami, Atlanta
David Mosemann – New York, Washington, Miami, Phillies, Atlanta