NL East
Mets
Good: Leads the division. The pitching overall even without Sean Manaea. 1B Pete Alonso.
Bad: The bats haven’t really gotten started. Juan Soto. Closer Edwin Diaz.
Phillies
Good: The starting pitching has been good without Ranger Suarez. 1B Bryce Harper, OF Kyle Schwaber and 2B Bryson Stott.
Bad: Starting P Aaron Nola and the bullpen. 3B Alec Bohm. The bats haven’t gotten started.
Marlins
Good: The team has been competitive with a better start than expected. P Max Meyer. 1B Matt Mervis has been a homerun threat replacing Jake Burger. The young bats are growing.
Bad: The pitching unit overall. No power bats outside of Mervis. P Sandy Alcantara is slipping after a good start hurting his trade value.
Nationals
Good: P Mackenzie Gore is growing into the ace he was expected to be. OF James Wood. The team is competitive. The starting pitching has been good so far. The addition of 1B Nate Lowe.
Bad: The bullpen. OF Dylan Crews is getting off to a slow start. The team could use another pitcher (or two) and bat (or two).
Braves
Good: P Spencer Strider is back and healthy. Finding P Spencer Schwellenbach. The bats have started to show power after a slow start.
Bad: The pitching overall. The consistency of the bats. Bottom of the division. They miss OF Ronald Acuna Jr. (injured).
AL East
Yankees
Good: The addition of P Max Fried acting as ace with the injuries. The addition of 1B/DH Paul Goldschmidt. Aaron Judge, OF Trent Grisham, and 1B Ben Rice.
Bad: The pitching injuries and pitching production. OF Cody Bellinger. The bats haven’t been consistent outside of the above.
Blue Jays
Good: The team has been competitive and near the top of a tough division. The starting pitching. The bats are starting to get hot. 1B Vlad Guerrero Jr. signed long-term. SS Bo Bichette is healthy and getting on base.
Bad: The bats haven’t shown much power including Vlad, Bo, and addition OF Anthony Santander. The bullpen. Might need to find another bat.
Red Sox
Good: The additions of ace P Garrett Crochet, 3B Alex Bregman and Closer Aroldis Chapman. SS Trevor Story resurgence. Rookie 2B/OF Kristian Campbell. OF Wilyer Abreu. Defense of OF Ceddanne Rafaela.
Bad: The pitching overall and the injury to P Bryan Bello. Batting consistency. Franchise 3B Rafael Devers. 1B Tristan Casas declining. Catcher position.
Orioles
Good: OF Cedric Mullins. The addition of P Tomoyuki Sugano. Closer Felix “The Mountain” Bautista is healthy and productive. 1B/OF Ryan O’Hearn. SS Gunnar Henderson is getting healthier. OF Heston Kjerstad.
Bad: Signing P Charlie Morton and the pitching unit overall. Injury to ace Zach Eflin. Consistency at bat. 2B Jackson Holliday in year 2. The team is near the bottom of the division. They need to find a pitcher (or two).
Rays
Good: The pitching has been good overall including healthy ace Drew Rasmussen and #2 Shane Baz. Young bats stepping up in 1B Jonathan Aranda, 3B Junior Caminero, OF Jake Mangum, OF Kameron Misner, and SS/2B Jose Caballero. Competitive young team.
Bad: Another injury to OF Josh Lowe. Utility player Taylor Walls continues to struggle. They could use another veteran bat or two. The injuries at pitcher haven’t happened yet and they are at the bottom.
