NL East: The 21st century arms race

During the mid-twentieth century, the United States and the Soviet Union were in the middle of a nuclear Arms Race…and now so are the New York Mets, Miami Marlins, and Washington Nationals. Of course, this arms race is not centered around nuclear weapons, but pitching in the starting rotation and bullpen. The Mets currently hold a six-man rotation with five young pitchers and one really, really old one, as well as a young bullpen; while the Marlins have a blend of youngsters and veterans in both their starting rotation and bullpen, with pitchers who should be doing well struggling, and the Nationals have a starting rotation made up of veterans, and a bullpen made up of youngsters and veterans alike. Three different teams, all of which will be competing for an NL East crown come mid-summer…but who has the best pitching staff?

New York Mets: The Mets six-man rotation is composed of Bartolo Colon, Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Dillon Gee, Matt Harvey, and Jon Niese. While it may seem odd that the team’s ace, Harvey, is the fifth man in the rotation, the starting five actually even out perfectly. Harvey breaks up two non-power pitchers, while perhaps the best pitcher in Major League Baseball this season is followed by former Rookie of the Year and a recent call up. In any 3 game series, opposing ball clubs will be forced to face at least one power-pitcher, giving the Mets an advantage over most teams. As for the bullpen, it is young, new, and has established itself as one of the best in baseball. Since taking over the closer role for the Mets, Jeurys Familia has become an incredibly difficult-to -spell household name, and has established himself as perhaps the best closer in the MLB. Alex Torres has also done a great job filling in for both Josh Edgin and Jerry Blevins, while Sean Gilmartin has kept the opponent in check with an ERA just around 3.00. The Mets have more than enough pitching at the moment, and may be trading a pitcher or two in the near future. All they need is a consistent contribution from their offense, and winning the East should not be too difficult.

Miami Marlins: The Miami Marlins’ starting rotation should be better than it has been, and it is constructed with Dan Haren, David Phelps, Tom Koehler, Jose Urena, and Brad Hand. This rotation will be getting a major facelift with Jose Fernandez scheduled to rejoin the ball club as soon as July 1. Fernandez is coming off of Tommy John’s Surgery, much like Mets’ Harvey; and if history has proven anything, it is that pitchers can be equally, if not more, effective when coming back from TJS. The Marlins bullpen consists of Vin Mazzaro, Andre Rienzo, Carter Capps, Sam Dyson, Bryan Morris, Mike Dunn, and A.J. Ramos. While none of these pitchers have been as effective as the Marlins would like so far this season, the team has faced an even bigger challenge with Steve Cishek. Cishek was the closer for the ball club last season, and his unorthodox delivery made him severely dangerous to hitters stepping in at the plate. However, this season, Cishek has been awful, and is now in Double-A working on his mechanics. Needless to say, in perspective of the arms race, the Marlins will not fair too well in the NL East come October.
Washington Nationals: The Nationals made news this past offseason when signing Max Scherzer to headline a starting rotation of Scherzer, Jordan Zimmermann, Gio Gonzalez, Stephen Strasburg, and Doug Fister. However, with Strasburg and Fister on the DL and A.J. Cole and Taylor Hill taking their place, the rotation is just not as effective. The bullpen for the Nationals is constructed of Drew Storen, Blake Treinen, Tanner Roark, Casey Janssen, Aaron Barrett, Matt Thornton, Rafael Martin, and Felipe Rivero. This group of young arms has been consistently inconsistent so far this season, with ERA’s ranging from below 1.00 to above 9.00. The team can currently give most of the credit for their winning to their offense, but that is not enough to last in a pitching heavy division such as the NL East. Therefore, the Nationals will be a team to compete with when they get some pitching back, but until then it is vital that the Mets and Marlins take advantage.

While the standings may show the NL East as a two horse race, the Marlins have a chance to make it a three horse race relatively quickly. When, and if, they are to do so, the division will quickly become an arms race between the teams, as they all try and pitch their way to the top. By the looks of it now, it seems that the Mets have the advantage of pitching on their side.