The Blue Workhorse

Earlier this year, we individually previewed each and every MLB team giving you a team’s record from the 2007 season, key additions and key losses in ‘08, projected starting lineups and pitching rotations, an overall outlook, fantasy impact players, and our prediction for this season.

So were we right?

Well, we got some things right like predicting Josh Hamilton’s huge season, but we also got some things way off like saying the Florida Marlins would be the laughing stock of the league.

What did we get right? What did we get wrong? This week we’ll start in the National League with the NL East:

Mets, Phils, or Braves: NL East Preview (March 6, 2008)

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Every season there are a handful of players that come out of no where to surprise us and become instant stars. We touched on some players who jumped out to incredible starts after the first couple of weeks of the baseball season.

However, there are also a handful of players that play no where near what was expected of them. At the midway point of the season and in lieu of the recent trend of teams demoting established players (Phillies’ starter Brett Myers, Indians’ closer Joe Borowski, and young Braves’ slugger Jeff Francouer — even though Francouer has scored 40 runs, hit 8 HR, and driven in 41 RBI), we examine those players who have failed to meet expectations and would be well deserving of a demotion:

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Minus a very few bright spots during the 2008 campaign, Atlanta Braves’ hometown hero Jeff Francoeur has been horrible in every sense of the word.

In his last 18 games, the right fielder is hitting just .121 with a .183 on-base percentage and .136 slugging percentage, but his struggles go back much further than just the last three weeks. During his two previous seasons in Atlanta, Francoeur built a reputation for being a clutch hitter in big situations.

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Juan Pierre was in the box hitting — the same Juan Pierre who hasn’t hit a home run since September 2006. Needless to say, I wasn’t on the edge of the rail waiting for him to hit a bomb, but I was still paying attention nonetheless. Lo and behold, Pierre hits a line drive straight toward where I was positioned. At first I thought it was going to fly over my head, and I prepped myself to make a jumping attempt, but instead, it raised my glove just a bit above eye level, and the ball traveled directly into it.

I couldn’t believe it had come right to me. I pulled down my glove, took the ball out, and immediately handed it to the second young brother, who had seen his brother get a ball and had been standing out in the outfield with his father for nearly as long as I had (despite his parents asking him a couple of times if he’d rather go play in the kids zone or go shopping in one of the souvenir shops). I never thought I would give up the first batted ball I ever caught at a major league stadium, but without thinking, I had done exactly that.

This year the battle could be just as highly contested as only the San Francisco Giants won’t bring a high-caliber team to the field each and every day. Arizona won the division last season but went out and made some huge trades. Colorado rode a late season hot streak all the way to the World Series. San Diego is determined to return to the playoffs after losing their last three games cost them a trip last season, and the Dodgers are looking to end one of the longest World Series droughts in the franchise’s storied history.

Here are our previews and predictions for all five NL West teams including last year’s records, key additions, key losses, projected starting lineup, projected rotation, overall outlook, fantasy impact players, and our prediction for this season:

Last season, the New York Metropolitans collapsed at the end of the season allowing the Philadelphia Phillies to take their first division title since 1993. The Atlanta Braves, the former requisite 1st place team in the NL East, also appear to be back in the running after two consecutive seasons finishing in third. However, each team appears to have some weaknesses whether it is age, pitching, injury issues, or a combination of possible calamities. Then there are the up-and-eventually-coming Washington Nationals and then…the woeful Florida Marlins.