My sleeper pick for the National League was a lot tougher than I thought it would be. There are a few potential teams, at least one from each division that could make a run at the postseason this year. It came down to the Milwaukee Brewers and the Florida Marlins for my sleeper pick and the more time I spent reflecting on it, it was a no brainer.
The Florida Marlins get the nod from me as the National League sleeper this year. The Brewers did acquire SP Zack Greinke from the Kansas City Royals and he makes their starting rotation that much better with Yovani Gallardo, Shaun Marcum, and Randy Wolf. The Brewers have a few good position players in Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder (who could get traded if the Brewers are seemingly out of it by the trade deadline), Casey McGehee, and Corey Hart. Their bullpen is questionable, but closer John Axford demonstrated last year he can get the job done at the end of the game. The Brewers are playing in a weaker NL Central this year that just recently lost Adam Wainwright from the Cardinals rotation and we all don’t expect much from the Pirates and Astros this year. I believe the Brewers need another big bat in the lineup and some legitimate middle relief pitching upgrades if they want to consider themselves contenders in the Central this year. Hence why I am giving my vote to the Marlins…
The Marlins starting rotation tends to get overlooked because there are some stellar starting pitchers within the NL East. In my mind, this takes all the pressure off their starting staff because not much is expected from them except Josh Johnson. The Marlin front office acquired Javier Vazquez, who is a much better pitcher in the NL and knows the NL East teams very well as he is two years removed from his days with the Braves. Ricky Nolasco, Chris Volstad, and Anibal Sanchez are all talented pitchers as well and are very capable of winning 10+ games each.
The Marlins offense is very young, but also very talented. We got to see some of that talent last season in the name of Mike Stanton who has ridiculous power to all fields and a good arm from right field as well. Chris Coghlan is now going into his third year in the majors, so expect big things from him and LF Logan Morrison also showed some promise as well. The Marlins did trade away 2B Dan Uggla and his 30+ home run bat, but did get back another 2B by the name of Omar Infante and southpaw reliever Mike Dunn from the Braves. The Marlins also signed free agent catcher John Buck, a veteran who is now in charge of handling the pitching staff.
Don’t sleep on their bullpen either, as they have a nice mix of righties and lefties and I see Mike Dunn making his way towards the late innings reliever role with his stuff. Leo Nunez has been a solid closer as well. I think along the way, the Marlins might need to pick up an extra arm in the bullpen just to bolster it down the stretch.
Now why would I pick the Marlins who have to face the Phillies 19 times a year and have to worry about that phenomenal starting staff? Well we all know no pitching staff in the majors expect for maybe the Red Sox can compare to the Phillies, but I strongly believe that the Marlins staff can hold their own against the Phillies. The Marlins starting lineup is full of speed and power, so when runners get on base, expect a lot of motion out of the runners to try and steal some runs.
I still see the Braves being competitive this year in the East as well, but they are really going to miss their manager Bobby Cox. Chipper Jones is coming back from the knee injury and we’re all not sure how he’ll bounce back. Derek Lowe might become trade bait as well depending upon how they are doing by the deadline. There is also the gap at the closer position that needs to be filled since Billy Wagner’s retirement in the offseason. Don’t get me wrong, they are a veteran team with up and coming talent, but this year is not their year.
The Marlins have to play to strengths and as long as their starting pitching keeps them in games, they will find a way to win. Watch for the Marlins to steal the Wild Card spot this season.
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