Every day, Pinstripe Alley offers updates on what the Yankees’ top American League opponents are up to through the Rivalry Roundup. The AL East is well-trodden ground there, but with the season’s final month halfway over, we’re going to take a peek around MLB as a whole and check in with each of the other five divisions. Who’s surprising? Who’s underwhelming? Who’s simply mediocre at the moment? Read on and find out.
(Note: Records and standings are up to date through games played on Sunday, September
14th.)
First Place: Philadelphia Phillies (89-61)
Top Position Player: Trea Turner (6.7 fWAR)
Top Pitcher: Christopher Sanchez (5.7 fWAR)
Woah. We knew the Phillies were good, but we didn’t think they would go into overdrive and suddenly take the biggest division lead in baseball by far. Entering play on Monday, the Phillies have a 12-game lead on the second-place Mets, a lead that was down to four games just under three weeks ago. Since then, the two squads have gone in totally opposite directions, with the Phils clinching a playoff spot on Sunday and moving to within a win or Mets loss from clinching the NL East with two weeks to go. The most likely path for them is the No. 2 seed and a bye to the NLDS.
They’ll have to do it without their ace and perennial Cy Young contender Zack Wheeler, after he underwent season-ending surgery in late August. They seem to be well-equipped to start a series with the dominance of Christopher Sánchez and Ranger Suárez. Jesus Luzardo is a capable SP3, but after that? Aaron Nola’s season has been an abject disaster, and they’re currently trying to make Walker Buehler work. Considering his career dominance in the World Series, maybe it’s worth a shot.
The bullpen has been an issue in the past for the Phillies, but they’ve completely remade their back line with the acquisitions of Jhoan Durán and David Robertson. While setup man José Alvarado is ineligible for the playoffs due to a PED suspension, they have more than enough to fill high-leverage innings with Orion Kerkering and Matt Strahm.
The offense is really good. Kyle Schwarber has an outside shot to win the MLB home run crown and will be an NL MVP finalist. Trea Turner has been an all-around star, getting it done in every facet of the game. We’re not getting MVP Bryce Harper anymore, but he’s still doing his thing. Former Yankee Harrison Bader has been an incredible deadline acquisition, and Brandon Marsh has been scorching hot for an extended period. Injuries to Alec Bohm and Turner are requiring guys like Otto Kemp and Weston Wilson to step up, but as long as they’re healthy in October, it’ll be fine.
Philly is in a good spot. The terrible seasons of Nola, Nick Castellanos, and Jordan Romano are about the only things that’ve gone wrong.
Second Place: New York Mets (77-73)
Top Position Player: Juan Soto (5.4 fWAR)
Top Pitcher: David Peterson (3.3 fWAR)
The Mets are a baffling mess right now. They lost eight in a row to briefly fall out of a playoff spot on Saturday, but are back up 1.5 games on the Giants. Despite their home dominance against the rival Phillies, they got embarrassed at Citizens Bank Park earlier this month to bury their divisional hopes. This team was once 45-24 with a 5.5-game lead. Since June 13 (coincidentally, the beginning of the Yanks’ summer swoon), they have a bottom-five record in baseball.
The offense has been good for the most part. Juan Soto has put to bed the “down year” allegations and even has a 40/30 season out of nowhere. Francisco Lindor has been inconsistent, but he is still a top shortstop in the game. Pete Alonso is still a wrecking ball in the heart of their order. Brandon Nimmo and Jeff McNeil are doing their jobs. Even Brett Baty has finally figured out the bat! Their issues lie at catcher, where Francisco Alvarez has been shaky amidst a demotion, and the backups (Luis Torrens, Hayden Senger) have been bad. There’s also Mark Vientos, who looked like a future star only to be a complete zero for much of the season, although he’s heating up lately.
But the No. 1 reason why the Mets are spiraling is their pitching. The rotation that was so dominant through June has collapsed, with a fatigued Clay Holmes and David Peterson being the only non-rookies. Yes, that’s right. Nolan McLean, Jonah Tong, and Brandon Sproat, all in the minors at the trade deadline, make up 60 percent of a playoff team’s rotation. Kodai Senga got optioned, Frankie Montas went under the knife, and Sean Manaea has been turned into a bulk reliever. Their rotation has become a nightmare. Let’s not even talk about that bullpen, which has been a revolving door behind Edwin Diaz all season.
After a really awful trade deadline that brought in Cedric Mullins and Ryan Helsley, who’ve been putrid, the Mets are on the verge of missing the playoffs with the league’s top payroll. Will it happen? I don’t think so, mostly because the teams behind them aren’t anything scary, but it’s been a wildly disappointing year in Queens.
Third Place: Miami Marlins (70-80)
Top Position Player: Kyle Stowers (4.0 fWAR)
Top Pitcher: Edward Cabrera (2.1 fWAR)
On August 3, the Marlins pulled off a sweep of the Yankees, completing a two-month-long climb back to .500 and the thick of the NL wild card race. Since then, they’re 15-25, the fourth-worst record in baseball. After starting 25-41 and rallying back with a 30-14 stretch, the magic has faded in what’s been a promising season, nevertheless, for Miami.
Former Yankee prospect Agustin Ramirez has had a rough second half, slashing just .199/.281/.291 in 39 games since 8/3. He’s down to a 91 wRC+ to go along with league-worst defense behind the plate. The injury to Kyle Stowers on August 15th didn’t help either, as he was in the midst of a stellar breakout campaign. He had 25 HR and 73 RBI in 117 games with a 148 wRC+, after all. Jakob Marsee, who debuted against the Yanks, has been phenomenal in 43 games, slashing .323/.393/.544. Those two look like lineup centerpieces as they hope to finally build a capable offense for the first time since the mid-2010s.
The pitching has always been their strength, and it continues to be. They held onto Edward Cabrera and Sandy Alcantara at the deadline, and there’s a chance both could be around for the next good Marlins squad. Alcantara, specifically, has rebounded from a terrible first half to post a 3.09 ERA in his last ten starts over 64 innings, albeit with less strikeout stuff than ever. They continue to boast multiple effective relievers as well, some that could’ve been used as trade bait at the deadline.
Fourth Place: Atlanta Braves (66-83)
Top Position Player: Matt Olson (4.1 fWAR)
Top Pitcher: Chris Sale (3.2 fWAR)
What a nightmare season for the Braves. They’ll likely be eliminated from playoff contention in the next few days and have already clinched their first losing season since 2017. Only the Yankees (33) and Dodgers (15) have now had at least six consecutive winning seasons. It seems fair to wonder if these are the last two weeks of Brian Snitker’s managerial career, although he’s kept his cards close to the vest.
The big offseason question for Atlanta will be the offense. Ozzie Albies and Michael Harris II, although much better in the second half, have experienced unforeseen regression. Both Sean Murphy and Austin Riley were big disappointments prior to going on the shelf. Ronald Acuna Jr. has been great, but limited to only 82 games. Matt Olson remains a rock in the lineup, but he’s not reaching his 2023 heights. Marcell Ozuna is likely gone as a pending free agent, and the team’s shortstop situation is so bleak offensively that they claimed Ha-Seong Kim off waivers following an injury-riddled season, absorbing his $16 million player option, and he hit the first HR by a Braves shortstop in 348 days.
The pitching is a question mark going forward, only because of injuries. AJ Smith-Shawver, Grant Holmes, Spencer Schwellenbach, and Reynaldo Lopez all suffered significant, season-ending injuries throughout the campaign. Chris Sale also missed extended time, but the reigning NL Cy Young winner is back and still pitching great. The most important thing for them, by far, will be getting Spencer Strider right. He’s been extremely inconsistent, posting a 4.86 ERA off Tommy John in 20 starts. One day it’s dominance, the next it’s batting practice. There’s a lot of talent here for next season, but the Braves need to get some of these arms healthy to return to contention.
Fifth Place: Washington Nationals (62-87)
Top Position Player: James Wood (3.3 fWAR)
Top Pitcher: MacKenzie Gore (2.9 fWAR)
If the Rockies didn’t exist, the Nationals would be the worst team in the Senior Circuit. Once again, the team has very few bright spots outside of the return package for Juan Soto, which has led to their manager and general manager getting the boot.
James Wood had a spectacular first half, but has slumped to a .212/.299/.337 slashline since July 11 with just three homers in 54 games. He and CJ Abrams make up 78.6 percent of the team’s fWAR of 8.4. It’s really bad. Daylen Lile has looked decent at the plate with a 120 wRC+ in 306 plate appearances, but other than that? They’ve had nine players accumulate 150 PA and post a sub-90 wRC+, from Nathaniel Lowe to Robert Hassell III.
Brad Lord and Jose A. Ferrer have been solid rotation fixtures behind MacKenzie Gore, who was a star in the first half before taking a huge tumble over the last two months. There are too many players on this roster having mediocre seasons, with Mitchell Parker and Jackson Rutledge being big disappointments. Remember Clayton Beeter? He’s actually been one of their best relievers since the trade deadline, despite an elevated walk rate. He always had the stuff; now he has to bring down the walks to reach his potential.
