Sports Time Radio

Here’s a question for you. Which team is going to win the National League East? As long as you didn’t say the Washington Nationals or the Miami Marlins the team you picked has a chance to win this division.

Going into today’s games the Philadelphia Phillies and the Atlanta Braves are tied for the N.L. East lead. Both teams are 60-56 while the New York Mets are just 1/2 a game back with a record of 59-56. It’s by far the closest division race in Major League baseball.

Last night the Braves where the only one of these three teams to get a win as they beat the Nationals 4-2. The Phillies lost to the Cincinnati Reds 6-1 while the Mets drop a 6-5 extra inning contest to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The combination of the Braves win and the Phillies loss is what allowed the Braves to move into a tie at the top of the division.

Now scheduling will play a part in who may win this division. Starting last night the Mets play their next 13 games against the Dodgers or the San Francisco Giants. The Giants and the Dodgers have the two best records in the National League. Will the Mets be able to stay in the N.L. East race over these next couple of weeks? Over that same timeframe the Phillies have a couple more games with the Reds before heading out West to face the Arizona Diamondbacks and the San Diego Padres. Then the Phillies return home for a quick two game series against the Tampa Bay Rays. It’s not an easy schedule for the Phillies, but I don’t know if it’s as tough as what the Mets have. As for the Braves; the schedule really favors them over this time period. After the series with the Nationals the Braves head to Miami for three games against the Marlins and then travel to Baltimore for three games with the Orioles before they return home to host the New York Yankees for two games.

Can the Braves get a little separation in the division since they have the easiest schedule out of these three teams or can either the Mets or the Phillies play well enough to hang with them at the top of the division?

Now it’s possible that injuries will play a big part in who wins the N.L. East. If that’s the case the Mets really have an uphill battle ahead of them. Just yesterday the Mets announced that Jacob deGroom was been shutdown for two more weeks and their big trade deadline acquisition Javier Baez was placed on the 10-day IL due to back spams. Add those two injuries to the fact that Francisco Lindor has been out since July with a strained oblique. Don’t forget that Noah Syndergaard hasn’t pitched all season as he recovers from Tommy John surgery. There are reports that Syndergaard is close to returning, but will be used out of the bullpen.

The Phillies are waiting for Rhys Hoskins to return from a strained groin, but they’re also waiting for six pitchers; three starters and three relievers to return from the IL. Luckily for the Phillies it’s not their top starting pitchers that are out, but Zach Eflin, Chase Anderson and Vince Velasquez are definitely solid back of the rotation starters. Will see how much longer it is before the possible returns of Jose Alvarado and Sam Coonrod, but it’s doubtful Seranthony Dominquez will make it back this season as he’s recovering from Tommy John surgery.

While deGroom may be the best starting pitcher that’s on the IL right now don’t forget that the Braves have played the entire season with their #1 starter Mike Soroka not pitching an inning for them. Atlanta is also missing Ian Anderson from their starting rotation. While the Mets are missing the best pitcher right now there’s a chance he may be back. There’s no chance that the Braves will be getting Ronald Acuna Jr. back this season and he’s the best everyday player out right now. The Braves have also played most of the season without Marcell Ozuna who’s appeared in 48 games this season. Ozuna is out with dislocated fingers and may also have a domestic violence issue hanging over his head; so you have to wonder if he’ll return this season. The Braves did acquire Eddie Rosario from the Cleveland Indians at the trade deadline even though he was on the IL at the time of the trade. Rosario is yet to return to game action.

In some cases just being the hot team at the right time can come in handy when a division race is this close. Atlanta is 8-2 in their last 10 games while Philadelphia is 7-3 and the Mets are 4-6. It will be interesting to see if the Braves and the Phillies can continue to play well or if the Mets can get it going.

So looking at these three teams and the situations they’re in; who do you think ends up winning the N.L. East? Remember it looks like just the winner of the division will make it into the playoffs as the wild card will come out of the N.L. West or the N.L. Central; so there’s a lot on the line in this division.

No coming off last weekend where hit on all four of his predictions Schaumburg Stu didn’t get off to a good start for this weekend. Schaumburg Stu had the Chicago Cubs beating the Miami Marlins last night and well they lost 14-10. Schaumburg Stu has two predictions for today; he’s going with the Miami Dolphins to beat the Chicago Bears in NFL pre-season action and he also has the Chicago White Sox beating the New York Yankees today. On Sunday Schaumburg Stu has the White Sox and the Yankees combining for more hits in their game than the Cubs and the Marlins.

You can hear Schaumburg Stu make his predictions every Friday on the Sports Time Radio podcast, but you should also listen to the podcast the other days of the week as well. The Sports Time Radio podcast airs live on BlogTalkRadio.com, but if you miss the podcast live just head on over to TuneIn.com and you can listen any time you want.

I’m also on Twitter if you want to look me up; I’m @Burketime