Where we ask the writers of our sister sites about their teams
The National League East is shaping up to be a good division. There are two powerhouse teams, one that is close to the same tier, another that looks like the fruits of the rebuild will keep blooming and another, while rebuilding again, that can at least be a bit pesky.
We’ve asked our SBNation sister sites to give some insight into their teams heading into 2025. Hope you enjoy!
Battery Power, managing editor Demetrius Bell
Obviously, the Braves didn’t perform as expected in 2024. Do you think that can be mostly chalked up to regression to the mean, or was it more the injury bug that never seemed to leave Atlanta?
It was a diabolical mixture of both. Losing Spencer Strider for all but a handful of innings in 2024, Ronald Acuña Jr. for basically 75 percent of the season and Austin Riley for the stretch run from August into October was a massive punch to the gut for this team that they very nearly didn’t recover from. If you lose three players of that caliber for long portions of the season, there will be struggles. Additionally, Sean Murphy suffered an oblique injury in Philly on Opening Day last season and basically spent the entire season trying to get right from that. Ozzie Albies only played 99 games and wasn’t as effective in those games as he had been in past years, as well.
With that being said, Matt Olson played all 162 games last season and his production fell off a cliff when compared to what he did in 2023. Jarred Kelenic probably isn’t an everyday player (hello, Jurickson Profar) and it showed as he ended up getting sharing time with Ramón Laureano for the stretch run (and Laureano was the primary option). Michael Harris II also had himself a bit of a down year when compared to the two very good seasons he had to start his career. So a lot of this was guys coming back down to Earth but to extend the metaphor, they also went a layer deep into the Earth’s crust. Olson’s probably not going to match the season he had in 2023 but I’d also say that he’s definitely better than what he showed last season. I think if they stay healthy then we’ll see a happy medium when it comes to these guys’ production – except for Orlando Arcia. He is who he is at this point in his career.
Speaking of injuries, Spencer Strider is due back at some point early in the season. How much of a restriction will he on once his season gets underway?
It seems like the Braves would ideally like to ease him back into things and that would also be the smart thing to do. Knowing how he is as a competitor (and any player outside of maybe Anthony Rendon, really. I’m only halfway kidding), he’s going to want to go full tilt once he returns with no innings limit or pitch limit or anything like that. I do think that they’ll definitely take it easy with bringing him back once he returns but I’d imagine that if he can get through the late part of April and May without any type of incident then he should be going full tilt by around Memorial Day. He’s been making good progress in his return and I just sat here and watched him go six-up, six-down while striking out the last five batters he faced. So while I do expect the Braves to be careful with him, it’s clear that it may not be a long wait for him to be fully unrestricted once he’s back on the mound in the regular season.
With Strider in the rotation and Sale doing well last season under a six man rotation at times, do you see the team employing that strategy at any point during the year?
It’s actually kind of funny – one of the main reasons why they went to that strategy is because they were trying to primarily make sure Chris Sale and Reynaldo López stayed healthy for the Postseason and, uh, well, so much for that! With that being said, it definitely did the trick during the regular season since both of them were able to get an extra day of rest which they needed for different reasons – López was returning to starting for the first time in years and Chris Sale’s injury history is well-known at this point.
I do think that they’ll try it again but if you asked me or a lot of other Braves fans about the rotation, we’d be fine with the six-man rotation for the reasons I laid out above. Still, we would’ve preferred that they would’ve gone out and got another starter either via free agency or trade. Spencer Schwellenbach appears to be the real deal, I’m also a big believer in AJ Smith-Shawver and we’ve already talked about Spencer Strider. With that being said, the Braves appear content with their internal options so we’ll see if they decide to do with which one of Bryce Elder, Ian Anderson or Grant Holmes decides to make the best of the chance that they’ll likely get at some point this season.
Spencer Schwellenbach is fascinating. He’s got a plethora of pitches in his arsenal and is good with pretty much all of them. What is his ultimate ceiling?
He absolutely projects as a top-of-the-rotation type of arm. You’re right about him having a ton of options when it comes to his bag of pitching tricks but the best thing about him in my opinion is that he barely walks anybody, which is huge. He was second among rookies in BB/9 last season (1.67) and 10th overall in that same category among pitchers with at least 120 IP last season. He did have a bit of an issue with giving up the long ball, as he was prone to giving up homers at a rate that was a bit higher than anybody would be comfortable with.
A lot of that could’ve just been due to him being a rookie and the best hitters in the world welcoming him to Major League Baseball and I’m certain that hitters will continue to adjust to him as he gets into his second season. However, the fact that he’s got such a deep bag with his arsenal is enough to where I think he’ll continue to be a handful for opposing batters. You’re not going to just “figure out” a guy who just about has a viable pitch for any type of situation, which is why Schwellenbach has a very high ceiling in my opinion.
With regards to the offense, Ronald Acuna, Jr. returning will be a boost of course, but Kevin Seitzer isn’t back as hitting coach. Is this a case of the team needing a new voice at that position?
I’m not even going to lie to you, we were all pretty shocked when Kevin Seitzer got fired. While the offense certainly took a dip that could’ve been attributed to more than just injuries, there weren’t really many signs that they were actually going to go ahead and let him go. With that being said, 10 seasons is a long time to be in any job in baseball – much less as a positional coach. It’s only natural that things get stale and to his credit, Seitzer actually accepted the blame for the down year after he was fired and admitted that he probably couldn’t have done much more to help improve things.
So while it was shocking, it was understandable once we all got a bit more clarification on the situation. With that being said, I’m pretty excited about seeing what Tim Hyers can bring to the table. He’s got a very solid track record, himself and you might be right that simply hearing a new voice and perspective on hitting could be enough to help get some of the players right who had a dip in production last season. I think we’ve all learned not to expect a 2023-like performance since that was some of the best hitting that MLB has seen but I’m pretty optimistic that Hyers can eventually help get this lineup back to being one of the top threats in all of baseball. We’ll see, though.
Amazin’ Avenue, writer Luke Vlahos
It’s a shame that the Mets didn’t spend in the offseason to get themselves better when they were so close to a World Series appearance. Do you think they could have done more?
Truly, the specter of Jeff Wilpon continues to linger over us all, haunting this franchise like some sort of malign spirit unable to accept that its corporeal form has moved on.
In all seriousness, how big a boon is adding Juan Soto to this franchise?
Frankly, it’s difficult to overstate what signing Juan Soto means to the Mets. The on-field impact is obvious; he’s had the best offensive start to his career of anyone since Pujols and The Machine debuted when he was two years older. The blend of approach, contact skills, and damage on contact is borderline unimpeachable. Yeah, the defense is mediocre at best, and Soto would probably be even better if he pulled the ball in the air more. He also posted a 180 wRC+ last year and was arguably unlucky given his underlying batted ball metrics. Absurd, stupendous, ridiculous, pick your adjective of choice, it doesn’t adequately describe the skillset here. The impact goes beyond the field though. The Steve Cohen Mets already acquired a star in Francisco Lindor, and he’s been stellar in his time in New York despite public perceptions to the contrary. However, Lindor was publicly willing to extend and was acquired via trade, while Soto – arguably one of the best free agents off all time – chose to come to the Mets. Money matters, but as the Blue Jays and Giants have frequently demonstrated it’s not everything; Soto choosing the Mets over the Yankees or the Red Sox is a sign of how far the perception of this franchise has come.
While the offense looks good at the top of the lineup, the pitching, with the injuries they’ve already had, will see their depth tested. Who are the next ones up in the minor league system that can help with the rotation?
This may surprise you, but I have almost no concern about the rotation despite the injuries. Manaea’s absence should be brief, and there are adequate arms – Holmes, Senga, Peterson, Megill, Canning, Blackburn – to fill out a six-man rotation even in his absence. That’s a lot of names that probably make you wrinkle your nose, but the Mets are getting jumps from seemingly 50% of the arms in camp and have a deep bullpen group that should let them maximize these guys w/ 5-and-dive outings. And then on the farm, you’ve got three top-100 prospects that are relatively close. Brandon Sproat is the best one and the most major league ready, he’s not in the elite tier of prospect arms like Andrew Painter but arguably at the top of the next tier. He’ll almost certainly get MLB time and should be mid-rotation quality almost immediately, with upside for more. Jonah Tong and Nolan McLean are a bit further away and a bit less highly regarded, but both could conceivably be where Sproat is now by midseason and offer similar depth.
Looking at Fangraphs, Clay Holmes has quite the solid projection for 2025. Is this going to end up one of the steals of the offseason across the whole league?
Simple answer is yes. Holmes is the latest in a growing trend of RP-to-SP conversions, ironically an old developmental path (I still remember rookie reliever Adam Wainwright striking out Carlos Beltran in the 2006 NLCS) that’s coming back into vogue as teams get better at identifying guys with the right traits and bolstering their arsenals for the transition. Holmes already threw three pitches with some level of frequency as a reliever and has added more this spring including a promising kick-change. One of my bold predictions this year is that he’ll receive Cy Young votes (health permitting), so yeah I think this is going to look like a steal in short order.
Should injuries strike the roster further, who are the closest (and best) options for reinforcement?
Covered the pitching already, so let’s go through the various offensive problems. Catcher is sort of borked no matter what until Alvarez gets back and is fully healthy again. Any further injuries at this point can’t make it all that much worse. On the infield, there’s pretty strong depth. Luisangel Acuña and Brett Baty are both young guys who need a shot at extended playing time eventually and can adequately fill in across the dirt. McNeil’s injury doesn’t seem too bad either, so hopefully that’s not an extended absence. You’ve also got Jared Young hanging around, and the batted ball metrics there were very encouraging if you need a 1B/DH body for a bit.
The outfield is where things get dicey. Brandon Nimmo’s continuing knee/foot problems leave some doubt on just how close to 100% he’ll be this season. Starling Marte’s knee seems cooked. We’re already talking about giving semi-significant outfield time to Alexander Canario and possibly Jesse Winker (who should really only DH), so that’s not ideal. And there’s not much help in the minors just yet either; Drew Gilbert had a disastrous 2024 season and seems to still be nursing his hamstring along. Jett Williams (who also is in the infield picture) also missed a lot of 2024 and probably isn’t quite ready yet either, though he could help by midseason. If there’s a weak spot on the roster, this is it. Though Juan Soto can cover a lot of sins.
Fish on First, managing editor Ely Sussman
If there was one thing to point to right away with the Marlins roster (at least from the outside), the rotation looks respectable, if not even good. Who is the one guy in that rotation that looks like he’ll take a step forward?
It was an equally encouraging spring for both Ryan Weathers and Max Meyer, though Weathers already took a meaningful step forward from 2023 to 2024, so Meyer fits the bill better heading into this year. The former top draft pick was essentially a one-pitch guy coming back from Tommy John surgery last season, incapable of putting batters away with anything but his slider. Now, his fastball velocity is up a few ticks and he has incorporated a sweeper into his arsenal at the behest of new Marlins coaches. There has long been skepticism about whether Meyer can stick as a starter due to his relatively small stature and high-effort delivery, but regardless of role, these improvements should at the very least shave a run off his previous year’s 5.86 ERA.
Per Fangraphs, the lineup has a lot of players projected to be around average, at least by wRC+ standards. Fast forward to the end of the season: who will be the team leader in the category?
Fueled by a high BABIP and lots of walks, Xavier Edwards should wind up as the wRC+ leader once again. A 128 mark won’t be realistic over the course of a full season—that’s what he did in 70 games played in 2024—but Edwards will be comfortably above league average. He also has the ability to be extremely impactful as a baserunner and he said repeatedly during spring training that he’s aiming for 60 stolen bases.
Miami is in a clear rebuild, which means they have some prospects that are coming. Not counting those guys in the lower part of the minors, who is a guy in the higher levels (AAA or AA) that could see time this year and make somewhat of an impact?
Agustín Ramírez should be a menacing middle-of-the-order bat for years to come. Evaluators are divided on whether he’s a viable catcher or just a designated hitter, but his combination of power and plate approach is unmatched by any other Marlins prospect. With half a season of Triple-A experience under his belt already, Ramírez should make his debut by June.
Over/under on the date that Sandy Alcantara is traded?
I know the timing of the Luis Arraez trade last year stunned everybody, but Sandy negotiations will be handled more conventionally. I highly doubt he’s going anywhere until after the All-Star Game. Set the over/under at July 24, which is the off day following the final pre-deadline Marlins homestand.
When will Eury Perez be ready and how much will the kid gloves be on to protect him this season?
We’ve consistently been told that Eury Pérez is scheduled to return right after the All-Star break. Pretty conservative timeline considering he has already been throwing bullpen sessions for about two months. Pérez has not gone past 93 pitches in any outing during his professional career. I’m expecting that to hold true once he returns—lots of five-inning starts down the stretch even when he’s cruising efficiently.
From a Phillies POV, Gabe Kapler is now one of the higher ups in the Marlins organization. Where can we see his fingerprints already showing up on the current construction of the roster?
Throughout his tenure, Peter Bendix has struggled to provide believable and satisfying responses during media availabilities, which has made me wonder why he doesn’t delegate some of those to Kapler. For the time being, though, Kapler operates in the shadows. He oversees player development as a whole. You can see his fingerprints on the organization’s expanded nutrition team and the new front office structure that includes “directors” who specialize in hitting, pitching, catching, etc. Kapler has also left his mark on the overhauled Marlins coaching staff. Craig Albernaz is a Kapler disciple who was atop the Marlins’ managerial wish list. After they whiffed on him, they settled on Clayton McCullough, who had collaborated with Kapler when both were with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Hitting coach Pedro Guerrero was brought in quickly after McCullough was introduced, no doubt because Guerrero was part of Kapler’s staff in San Francisco.
Federal Baseball, managing editor Sam Sallick
The Nationals look like they did quite well in the return for Juan Soto as most of the players in the deal are in the majors now. How excited should people be to see a full season of James Wood?
The Nats did very well on the Soto return. CJ Abrams, Mackenzie Gore and James Wood are all in the bigs. Robert Hassell had a very good spring and Jarlin Susana is one of the hardest throwers in the Minor Leagues. Wood is the best player here for me. Baseball fans, not just Nats fans should be very excited for him. James Wood does things very few players in this league can do. He has hit some utterly jaw dropping opposite field home runs this spring. Wood is also extremely fast for his size and has a great approach. The defense needs some work, but he has legit star upside and I think he can tap into that quickly.
I really liked the trade for Nathaniel Lowe for this team. Solid, if unspectacular, bat at first base, decent defense. What is his outlook for the season?
Nathaniel Lowe was a solid pickup for sure. Lowe being the biggest splash of the offseason was disappointing for a lot of Nats fans, but he is a good player. With the team finishing 29th in homers last year, I thought they would go after a masher, which Lowe is not, but he is a good player. He is good defensively and draws a ton of walks. Lowe did hit 27 homers in 2022, so there is some hope he can provide some more thump. Overall, he is going to be a stabilizing presence at first.
Dylan Crews didn’t set the world on fire in his debut, but he also didn’t fall flat on his face. What is he looking to improve on specifically this upcoming season?
Crews did not have the massive year many hoped for, but he was good. He made it to the MLB and showed promise. Crews really struggled with breaking balls and that is something he is working on heading into the season. He is playing right field due to Jacob Young and he will be awesome there defensively. Crews is basically a good center fielder playing right. I think he will be in gold glove conversations. With the bat, there is a little more uncertainty, but he is a smart player and has made adjustments at every level he’s been at.
Has MacKenzie Gore crossed the rubicon and become a top of the rotation pitcher? Is there anything left for him to do to take yet another step?
I think there is more in the tank for Gore. The stuff is there, it is all about consistency. He has a habit of starting the season strong before fading after the first couple months. Gore did that in 2024, but bounced back the last 6 weeks of the season last year, which was important for him. There’s a chance he becomes a frustrating middle of the rotation guy you always want a bit more from, but I think he has the talent to be a top of the rotation arm. He is a lefty with big time stuff.
When will Brady House be ready? Because that third base situation in Washington looks a little suspect.
That is really up to Brady. He was exposed a bit last year in AAA. House is only 21, so that is not the end of the world, but he has to refine his approach. Way too much chase last year, esp in Rochester. He has the raw power and the defense to be a very good player, but this is a pretty big year for him. House has the Matt Chapman starter kit, he just needs some more refinement. Paul DeJong is at third right now, so if he is hitting in AAA, there is not exactly a massive roadblock in front of him.
**Many, many, many thanks to these four gentlemen for taking their time to write this for us.