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Atlanta Braves: What NL East team should we fear the most?

By James Kunkle

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 14: Anthony Rendon #6 of the Washington Nationals rects after flying out to end the ninth inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Nationals Park on April 14, 2019 in Washington, DC. Pittsburgh won the game 4-3. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 14: Anthony Rendon #6 of the Washington Nationals rects after flying out to end the ninth inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Nationals Park on April 14, 2019 in Washington, DC. Pittsburgh won the game 4-3. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images) /
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PHILADELPHIA, PA – APRIL 15: Wilson Ramos #40 of the New York Mets scores during the third inning at Citizens Bank Park on April 15, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. All players are wearing the number 42 in honor of Jackie Robinson Day. The Mets defeated the Phillies 7-6 in 11 innings. (Photo by Corey Perrine/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA – APRIL 15: Wilson Ramos #40 of the New York Mets scores during the third inning at Citizens Bank Park on April 15, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. All players are wearing the number 42 in honor of Jackie Robinson Day. The Mets defeated the Phillies 7-6 in 11 innings. (Photo by Corey Perrine/Getty Images) /

The NL East is exactly where we all thought it would be. 4 teams at the top that will fight all Summer. We hope the Atlanta Braves will come out on top again, but here’s who we should be wary of.

In the last couple of days, three teams have shared a part of first place in the NL East. Those three teams being the Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, and New York Mets.

As of Tuesday (4-16-19) those three teams are all separated by 1/2 game and the Nationals still are only 2 games back.

Now that we’ve seen a couple of them and been watching all 3, let’s see how the Braves are stacking up against this competition now.

The Mets

Obviously the Braves just come off a series with the Mets, that saw New York take the first two games and the Braves split the series by taking the last two games.

So far in the season, the Mets have gotten great production from rookie standout Pete Alonso, but new acquisition Robinson Cano has stumbled out of the gate. The Mets are also waiting on the return of Todd Frazier to deepen the teams lineup.

The one thing that scares me about the Mets is the fact that they’re built on pitching, and yet they are in first place while the team’s pitching has been its weakness… specifically the bullpen. The only relief pitcher they have with an ERA under 3.48 is closer Edwin Diaz.

After 2 usual starts, Jacob deGrom has made 2 non-quality starts, including one against the Braves on Sunday. The other ace of the team, Noah Syndergaard, has an ERA of 5.63 so far and has been hit pretty hard thus far.

No doubt the Mets have talent after new GM Brodie Van Wagenen revamped the team’s roster this winter. The question is are they the biggest challenger to the Atlanta Braves?

I personally don’t think they are. The Bullpen is not deep enough and I expect a couple of the bats they are currently relying on will come back to earth such as Wilson Ramos and Jeff McNiel.

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