After the Major League Baseball season started on March 29, the standings have fluctuated tremendously within the National League East division over the past few weeks.
The NL East consists of the Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, Washington Nationals, New York Mets, and the Miami Marlins.
As of May 17, 2018, the Braves are first in the league with 26 wins and 16 losses. The Braves had a promising start after years of building up their team for four seasons.
In fact, during those four years, the Braves were facing tough times with consistent losing seasons. Since 2014, they have had at least 90 losses per season, but, as of now, it does not seem like they are going to repeat this trend in the 2018 season.
Even before the season officially started, the team was considered to have “the best farming system in baseball.”
Second in the league is the Philadelphia Phillies with 25 wins and 16 losses. The Phillies are .5 games back as of May 17. They won eight out of their last 10 games.
The Phillies had a rocky start at the beginning of the season, but during the last few weeks, they have pulled ahead to have the second best rankings of all of the National League.
Throughout April, the Phillies were at the bottom of the standings, so their newfound success excites many hopeful fans.
Freshman Alyssa Johler says, “Philadelphia had their [the Phillies’] back when they won and lost Games and the team never gave up! Now it’s time for them to pay their return with a World Series win.”
Right under the Phillies with 24 wins and 18 losses are the Washington Nationals. The Nationals are two games back behind the Braves and, like the Phillies, have been doing really well the past few weeks by winning eight of their last 10 games.
However, at the beginning of the season, the Nationals were expected to have the best record in the NL East division, but as time progressed, the team slowly began to fall behind. The Nationals still have time to pull ahead in the division, though.
Second to last in the NL East division are the New York Mets with 20 wins and 19 losses. In the beginning of April, the Mets had an astonishing 11-1. They were at the top of the division and fans were beyond happy.
However, as of late, the Mets have been going through a rough patch and only won three out of the last 10 games.
Freshman Olivia Savino says, “The Mets started off really good and were having a great season, but lately they haven’t been doing as good as they could be doing. There has been a lot of injuries for the players and it’s making it harder for the team to perform well as a whole.”
Last in the division are the Miami Marlins. The Marlins only have 17 wins and 26 losses. The team is 10.5 games back behind the Braves, and it will be really hard for them to play catch up if they want to make it to playoffs in October.
What team do you think will make it to the playoffs? Why?
Comments