NL East Report: Post Trade Deadline Recap
Atlanta Braves (66-48)
The Atlanta Braves have seen their division lead shrink a little bit as of recently. Despite being in first place since May, they are now only six games up on the Nationals and Phillies.
The team has hit a bit of a cold streak going 4-6 in their last 10 and and have lost two in a row. Despite this blip, the Braves impressively have a slightly better road record (34-22) than at home (32-25), which has clearly contributed to their success.
The Braves main area of weakness this season has come from the backend of their bullpen. As a result, they were able to enhance this blemish on deadline day by acquiring Detroit Tigers closer Shane Greene (1.38 ERA, 3.76 FIP, 22 Saves) and San Francisco Giants reliever Mark Melancon (4-2, 3.42 ERA, 3.24 FIP) to sure up this unit. Unfortunately, Greene has not faired well since becoming a Brave allowing a three-run homer and blowing a save against the Reds.
The Braves were also trying to acquire an outfielder following the Nick Markakis injury (fractured wrist). They were reportedly interested in outfielder Yasiel Puig, but missed out as he was dealt to the Cleveland Indians in a three-team trade for pitcher Trevor Bauer.
Instead, recent call up Adam Duvall has given them major production from the outfield. Duvall has rewarded the front office by hitting five homers and slashing .419/.424/.968 in his first eight games in the big leagues.
Washington Nationals (58-53)
The Washington Nationals currently sit tied with the Phillies for the second wild card and are six games back of the Braves in the division. The team has hit a cold streak as of late going 3-7 in their last 10. The Nats haven’t won a series since July 14th and their poor luck continued over the weekend dropping two-of-three in Arizona.
The Nats also placed ace Max Scherzer on the I.L. with a back injury last week. Despite the initial concern, he has already begun throwing and isn’t expected to miss more than a start or two.
The team’s biggest issue this season, among previous seasons, has without a doubt been their bullpen. General manager Mike Rizzo was able to come through before the deadline as he acquired two relievers from the Seattle Mariners in Hunter Strickland and Roenis Elias, along with Blue Jays pitcher Daniel Hudson.
As a result, the Nats designated struggling left-handed reliever Tony Sipp for assignment to make room for these three arms. The new look bullpen combined with starter Joe Ross to pitch a one-hit shutout of the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night.
Despite an encouraging performance from this group, Roenis Elias was questionably asked to pinch hit in this game. Elias, who came from the American League, pulled his hamstring running out a chopper to first and will more than likely miss a few weeks in a pivotal stretch.
Philadelphia Phillies (58-53)
The Philadelphia Phillies are tied with the Nats for second in the wild card and are also six back of the Braves in the division, as well. The Phils have won nine-of-their-last-15, but dropped a series against the lowly White Sox over the weekend.
The team made some solid moves leading up to the deadline landing Mets starter Jason Vargas in exchange for Double-A catcher Austin Bossart (.205/.310/.348) in what was a clear salary dump move by New York. They also picked up journeyman pitcher Drew Smyly, who has impressed so far pitching 13 innings of one-run ball in his first two starts with the team.
In the position player department, the Phils acquired Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Corey Dickerson, after losing Andrew McCutcheon and Odubel Herrera for the remainder of the season. Dickerson is hitting .313/.371/.547 in 45 games this season.
Struggling starter Zach Eflin (7-11, 4.51 ERA, 4.79 FIP) was moved to the bullpen following the trade for Vargas. The team also signed former Twins reliever Blake Parker to build additional depth, but these players are clearly not the solution.
The Phillies whiffed trying to upgrade their bullpen and it has come back to bite them as a result. Despite Jason Vargas‘s quality start for them on Friday night going six and a third while only giving up two-runs, the bullpen melted down in the ninth to fall 4-3.
The puzzling lack of bullpen help also came in the wake of the announcement that David Robertson will be out for season with a torn flexor tendon. This injury will require surgery and he may need Tommy John surgery, as well.
Another big shocker that came on Sunday was the Phillies decision to option veteran third basemen Maikel Franco to the minors. Franco started 86 games for the Phils and hit 231/.296/.405 with 15 home runs.
The team chose to roll with a non-traditional four-man bench, as opposed to sending a reliever down due to their lack of depth in this area. Franco has been a mainstay in their lineup for five straight seasons.
Without breaking the bank, the Phillies made some minor moves that could inch them closer to a wild card berth. They may have a playoff push left in them, but did not do anything to put themselves over the top in a tight race, which could prove to hurt them in the end.
New York Mets: (57-56)
Despite being nine games back of the Braves in the east, the New York Mets have recently climbed back into the wild card race winning 11-of-their-last-12.
The amazins’ swept the Marlins in a double header yesterday and are now only a mere two-and-a-half games back of the Phillies and Nats for the second wild card spot.
The club is over .500 for the first time since May and are even with the San Francisco Giants, Milwaukee Brewers, and Arizona Diamondbacks in the loss column.
Coming off a 2.70 ERA in the month of July, Noah Syndergaard has a 1.78 ERA since the All-Star break. Thor picked up his eighth win of the season in the series finale against the Pirates on Sunday going seven strong innings to earn himself National League Player of the Week.
Seth Lugo was named reliever of the month following 16 scoreless innings in July. Lugo is without a doubt the most dominant relief pitcher in baseball at the moment and showcased this last night with a six-out save.
Jacob deGrom has also hit his stride pitching to a 1.09 ERA in the month of July. deGrom tossed seven innings, while only allowing two-runs on Monday for the 50th time in 54 outings for the reigning Cy Young champ.
J.D. Davis continued his hot streak last night getting things going with a solo homer to ignite the comeback in the seventh. Davis is hitting .360 since June 4th to lead his team.
Robinson Cano, who also has been coming around with the bat (9-for-last-15), as of late, pulled his left hamstring on Sunday running the bases. Unfortunately, It was later revealed the following day that Cano will miss significant time with a torn hamstring.
Amed Rosario is blossoming into the player he was projected to be slashing .339/.380/.491 in his last 30 games. Rosario has also cleaned up his defense making only three errors since June began after making 13 in the first two months of the season combined.
The Mets had an interesting approach at the deadline to say the least. First, they acquired Marcus Stroman in exchange for their two best pitching prospects Anthony Kay and Simeon Woods-Richardson. Stroman was unable to surpass five innings in his first start as a Met on Saturday (four and a third, three-runs), but managed settled down a bit after struggling initially. He also made a dazzling play in the field to save a run from scoring.
Following the Stroman deal, the team oddly made no other significant moves and kept Zack Wheeler, who is a pending free agent. They also sent their second most consistent starter Jason Vargas to the Phillies for Jeff Wilpon’s son’s college teammate in Austin Bossart. Bossart is a 26-year-old catcher, who is repeating Double-A.
Brodie made made no improvements to their bullpen either, despite making a buyers trade for Stroman. He also did nothing to improve their roster after selling the farm and although the bullpen has improved as of late, it still lacks depth.
The last spot in the bullpen is a revolving door of underwhelming talent that features Tyler Bashlor, Jacob Rhame, Chris Flexen, Brooks Pounders, and Stephen Nogosek. All of these options cannot be relied upon in high leverage situations, which was once again put on full display Friday night in Pittsburgh when Bashlor gave up three-runs in a one run game to put the club’s comeback out of reach.
In the wake of this debacle, the Mets claimed longtime Baltimore Orioles lefty-reliever Donnie Hart off waivers over the weekend. In 37 and a third innings in Triple-A, Hart has posted a 4.10 ERA, 4.29 FIP and 55.4% grounder rate. Hart was called up to replace Rhame (elbow discomfort) on the roster Sunday and pitched a 1-2-3 inning in his Mets debut.
Miami Marlins (42-67)
The Miami Marlins continue to dwell in the basement of the division at 24 games back.. The club was swept by the Tampa Bay Rays over the weekend and lost both games of a double header to the Mets on Monday to drop to 27 games under .500 on the season.
Derek Jeter and Marlins brass made several moves last week giving up their top prospects to get them in return. They sent reliever Sergio Romo to the Minnesota Twins, but also dealt their 23rd ranked prospect Chris Vallimont in exchange for Twins 30th ranked prospect Lewin Diaz.
Once again, Jeter seemed to contradict himself when he traded young promising pitcher Zac Gallen, who has had some success in the big leagues (2.72 ERA, 3.58 FIP), to the Diamondbacks for top-100 shortstop prospect Jazz Chisholm. While acquiring top prospects is certainly a positive, it is fair to wonder how Jeter ever expects to build a contender if he trades all of his youth before they even begin to develop in the majors.
Jeter and the Marlins front office sent more major league talent packing in pitchers Trevor Richards (4.50 ERA, 4.5 FIP) and Nick Anderson (3.74 ERA, 2.56 FIP) to the Tampa Bay Rays. Despite this factor, this deal proved to be Jeter’s best of the deadline acquiring injured pitcher Ryne Stanek and the 39th best prospect in baseball Jesus Sanchez.
The Marlins did not have much value to ship off being a relatively young team in full rebuild mode. The only veterans on the roster were Neil Walker, Curtis Granderson, and Martin Prado, which could have brought in some lower tier prospects, but the Marlins clearly did not get what they were hoping for in exchange for these players.
Upcoming Schedules:
Braves: @Twins 8/6-8/7, @Marlins 8/8-8/11
Nationals: @Giants 8/6-8/7, @Mets 8/9-8/11
Phillies: @Diamondbacks 8/6-8/7, @Giants 8/8-8/11
Mets: Marlins 8/6-8/7, Nationals 8/9-/8/11
Marlins: @Mets 8/6-8/7, Braves 8/9-8/11