2022 National League East Preview

After a roller coaster lockout in the off-season filled with glimmers of hope and absolute despair, we made it. Baseball is happening on April 7! In preparation for opening day, we’re going to take you through a preview of every division in the MLB, who the manager is, pitching rotations, notable acquisitions, etc. So without further ado let’s take a look at the National League East!

National League East Division

Last year the Braves sat atop the NL East Division… and then there was everyone else. The rest were basically sub .500 teams (don’t come at us Philly fans you were .506) in a real twist from pre-season expectations. Almost every team has made some improvements, though, and has playoff aspirations.

Atlanta Braves

Last Year’s Results

• 88-73 (.547)
• First in the National League East

2022 Payroll

• $173,935,000 (9th in the League)

2022 Manager

• Brian Snitker

2022 Projected Lineup

1. Eddie Rosario
2. Ozzie Albies
3. Matt Olson
4. Austin Riley
5. Marcell Ozuna
6. Alex Dickerson
7. Adam Duvall
8. Dansby Swanson
9. Travis dArnaud

2022 Projected Rotation

1. Max Fried
2. Charlie Morton
3. Kyle Wright
4. Ian Anderson
5. Huascar Ynoa
6. Tucker Davidson

The Braves are the defending champions of the MLB! With that comes high expectations and the possibility of a “Championship Hangover”. It’s a very real thing that affects most teams. Why else would only 14 MLB teams have won back-to-back titles?

This offseason the Braves have added 1B Matt Olson, RP Kenley Jansen, OF Alex Dickerson, RP Tyler Thornburg, RP Collin McHugh, RP Kirby Yates, C Manny Piña, and RP Jay Jackson. They have also lost 1B Freddie Freeman, OF Jorge Soler, OF Joc Pederson, SS Ehire Adrianza, SP Drew Smyly, RP Chris Martin, RP Jesse Chavez, OF Cristian Pache, OF Terrance Gore, 3B Johan Camargo, and RP Richard Rodríguez. 

It’s never a good time to lose the face of your franchise like the Braves did with Freddie Freeman, but marginally upgrading over Freeman with Matt Olson is a pretty great consolation prize.

Pair that with a terrifying bullpen that can only get scarier when Kirby Yates returns from Tommy John surgery and Mike Soroka’s return to the starting rotation mid-season and this team doesn’t look to be going anywhere. 

Caesars has the Braves set at +120 to win the NL East. This seems like a high number until you keep going down this list and read about the rest of the teams in the National League East. Even still, +120 for the defending champs to retake the NL East sounds like a great bet.  

Miami Marlins

Last Year’s Results

• 67-95 (.414)

2022 Payroll

• $69,000,000 (25th in the League)

2022 Manager

• Don Mattingly

2022 Projected Lineup

1. Jazz Chisholm
2. Jorge Soler
3. Garrett Cooper
4. Avisail Garcia
5. Jesus Sanchez
6. Jesus Aguilar
7. Brian Anderson
8. Jacob Stallings
9. Miguel Rojas

2022 Projected Rotation

1. Sandy Alcantara
2. Trevor Rogers
3. Pablo Lopez
4. Jesus Luzardo
5. Elieser Hernandez
6. Sixto Sanchez

Oh, the Miami Marlins. Not exactly known for competitive ownership as it is, it’s never a good look when Derek Jeter is leaving the front office because of no competitive moves made in the off-season.

They did add OF Jorge Soler, OF Avisaíl García, C Jacob Stallings, 2B Joey Wendle, and RP Louis Head. They lost OF Lewis Brinson, C Sandy León, 2B Joe Panik, and RP Austin Pruitt.

It can’t hurt to add a former World Series MVP in Jorge Soler, but when you don’t surround him with any other good hitting his value is going to be diminished. Can some of the younger places take the next step in their development? Time will tell. The bright spot of this club is its pitching staff headlined by Sandy Alcantara. 

Caesars has the Marlins at +1500 to win the National League East and that feels fitting. If the right players take a leap this season and the pitching staff is dominant the Marlins could really shake up the East. How likely that is to happen is another story.

New York Mets

Last Year’s Results

• 77-85 (.475)

2022 Payroll

• $252,349,999 (2nd in the League)

2022 Manager

• Buck Showalter

2022 Projected Lineup

1. Brandon Nimmo
2. Starling Marte
3. Francisco Lindor
4. Pete Alonso
5. Robinson Cano
6. Eduardo Escobar
7. Jeff McNeil
8. Mark Canha
9. James McCann

2022 Projected Rotation

1. Tylor Megill
2. Max Scherzer
3. Chris Bassitt
4. Carlos Carrasco
5. Taijuan Walker
6. Jacob deGrom

If we’re going purely by payroll then the Mets should be one of the best in the entire MLB. However, payroll doesn’t necessarily translate to success.

The Mets added SP Max Scherzer, SP Chris Bassitt, OF Starling Marte, OF Mark Canha, 3B Eduardo Escobar, and RP Adam Ottavino. They lost SS Javier Báez, SP Noah Syndergaard, OF Michael Conforto, SP Marcus Stroman, SS Jonathan Villar, RP Dellin Betances, RP Jeurys Familia, RP Aaron Loup, SP Rich Hill, RP Heath Hembree, OF Kevin Pillar, RP Brad Hand, and RP Robert Gsellman.

It may seem like losing Syndergaard is a huge loss but he hasn’t pitched like Thor in quite awhile. Max Scherzer and Chris Bassitt end up being upgrades over the pitchers they let go for them. As long as the pitching staff can stay healthy (did I just use Mets and healthy in the same sentence?) then this is a solid rotation.

On the offensive side of things the Mets added Starling Marte, Mark Canha, and Eduardo Escobar to their lineup. The big question is, can they replace Baez, Conforto, and Villars production from last season?

Caesars has the Mets at +225 to win the National League East. While it definitely could happen, you are putting a LOT of trust on the Mets health if you take this bet. We won’t tell you who to bet on, but maybe google “New York Mets Injury” before you make the bet. 

Washington Nationals

Last Year’s Results

• 65-97 (.401)

2022 Payroll

• $114,623,095 (19th in the League)

2022 Manager

• Dave Martinez

2022 Projected Lineup

1. Cesar Hernandez
2. Juan Soto
3. Nelson Cruz
4. Josh Bell
5. Keibert Ruiz
6. Lane Thomas
7. Alcides Escobar
8. Maikel Franco
9. Victor Robles

2022 Projected Rotation

1. Patrick Corbin
2. Josiah Gray
3. Anibal Sanchez
4. Erick Fedde
5. Aaron Sanchez

How far we fall. It was just 3 short years ago the Nationals were on top of the baseball world! As of last season they were dead last in the National League East.

The Nationals added DH Nelson Cruz, 2B César Hernández, 3B Ehire Adrianza, RP Steve Cishek, and RP Sean Doolittle. They lost 1B Ryan Zimmerman, SS Jordy Mercer, C Alex Avila, RP Wander Suero, and RP Ryne Harper.

This is not a team that screams “championship or bust”. Still, they’ve put enough pieces around to potentially be competitive and maybe even snag a wildcard spot.

The blueprint for them was pretty clear by the one year deals they signed most players to this off season. If they are competitive then they can keep those contracts and load up for a post-season push. If they aren’t competitive then they can keep their young players and flip the one year deals at the deadline.

Caesars has the Nationals at +5000 to win the National League East. Maybe you’re a diehard fan and want to put $5 on them after a few at Nationals Park, but other than that I think we know where the Nationals are going to finish in the division. 

Philadelphia Phillies

Last Year’s Results

• 82-80 (.506)

2022 Payroll

• $215,488,462 (4th in the League)

2022 Manager

• Joe Girardi

2022 Projected Lineup

1. Kyle Schwarber
2. J.T. Realmuto
3. Bryce Harper
4. Nick Castellanos
5. Rhys Hoskins
6. Jean Segura
7. Didi Gregorious
8. Matt Vierling
9. Bryson Scott

2022 Projected Rotation

1. Aaron Nola
2. Kyle Gibson
3. Zach Eflin
4. Ranger Suarez
5. Zack Wheeler

One of the more interesting storylines with this team is Joe Girardi coaching for his proverbial baseball life. His contract is up after this season with a team option for ‘23.

Aside from that, the Phillies have added OF Nick Castellanos, OF Kyle Schwarber, RP Corey Knebel, RP Jeurys Familia, RP Brad Hand, C Garrett Stubbs, and 3B Johan Camargo. They have lost OF Andrew McCutchen, SS Brad Miller, SS Freddy Galvis, RP Archie Bradley, RP Ian Kennedy, RP Hector Neris, SP Matt Moore, OF Roman Quinn, and C Andrew Knapp.

Offensively, this team lacks nothing and the rich only got richer with the Phillies adding Castellanos and Schwarber to the mix. Defensively… not so much.

As far as pitching goes the Phillies have Wheeler and Nola as definitive pluses. After that, though, they are relying on some production from pitchers who haven’t had a history of producing in order to make it out of the East in 2022.

Caesars has the Phillies at +300 to make it out of the East. This seems to be a middle-of-the-pack club, and those odds reflect that.