Tonight is opening night for the 2009 baseball season so it is time to make the old preseason picks as to how I expect the season to go.   It is great to be a fan of the defending champs but it will be just as great if the boys can do it again !   That being said here goes the picks for the season.

National League East

The Phillies have a tremendous nucleas, all of whom are in prime years of play.   The ability to run Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins out there everyday will result in alot of wins.  Supplement that with folks like Shane Victorino, Jayson Werth, Raul Ibanez, Carlos Ruiz and Pedro Feliz and you have a very strong starting eight.  I think Werth is going to have a big year and also believe that Feliz will hit much better this year.  Ibanez is a pro and I think will be the “professional hitter” in the lineup that we missed at times last season. 

The key is pitching.  The starters were very good during the stretch run last season but that will need to be replicated and the pen has to be strong once again.  Brad Lidge most likely will not be perfect this year but he and Ryan Madson have to anchor the back end of games again for the team to win.

The Mets will be in the mix again, they also have two top notch players in David Wright and Jose Reyes.  Carlos Delgado and Carlos Beltran are also very good hitters in the core of the lineup.  They beefed up the pen with J.J. Putz and Francisco Rodriquez which was the achilles heal last season.  I don’t like their starting pitching so much and even with the addition of Gary Sheffield I don’t think the corner outfield spots are so strong.   In my opinion they are not as good as the Fightin’s and and I do not see them overtaking the Phillies.

Atlanta added Derek Lowe who I lobbied hard as a fan for the Phillies to pick up, he is a legit number one and will definitely help the Braves.  Beyond him I am not so sure they have alot of depth, the pen is anchored by Mike Gonzalez but I am not in love with the starting staff and middle pen, I think they could struggle there.  Brian McCann, Yunell Escobar and Chipper Jones present a very good offensive nucleas and Jeff Francour, Casey Kotchman and Kelly Johnson are all good players but I just don’t think this team is good enough to win the division.  Bobby Cox  is a very good manager so he will keep the team up and they will win games, just don’t think enough to make playoffs.

Florida is an interesting team and perhaps has the best starting pitching staff in the division.  Young arms like Ricky Nolasco, Chris Volstad and Josh Johnson are very formidable.  Matt Lindstrom throws bullets out of the pen but we will see if he can be consistent.  Hanley Ramirez is as good as anybody at shortstop and is capable of a MVP season.   I think they fall short in the outfield and not so sure that other than Dan Uggla and Jorge Cantu that anyone else offensively scares me too much.  I think they will surprise early and will ride the pitching but just don’t see them strong enough to win the division.

The Nationals added Adam Dunn to the offense and he will hit alot of bombs for Washington, he will also strike out alot as well!  They too have some young arms that could shine starting with John Lannan and the addition of  Scott Olsen from Florida.  Ryan Zimmerman may be the best third sacker in the league and Christian Guzman, Ronnie Belliard are good hitters.  The key to this team may be young outfielders Elijah Dukes and Lastings Milledge, if they play to potential then this team could move up in the division.

That all being said here is how I think it plays out :

1.  Phillies  2. Braves  3.  Mets  4.  Nationals  5.  Marlins

I think the Fightins have too much for the others in comparison, the key will be staying healthy as to how far they stretch ahead of the rest and/or if the divsion race is close. 

GO FIGHTINS !!!!!