The Most Important Player on Each Team in the NL East for the Remainder of the 2020 Season
by Alexander Wolfe
There are no teams mathematically out of the playoff race, thanks to this year’s expanded format, but each team is playing for something different. Some were expected to be great and have been, others have managed to surprise us in being relevant, and some are completely disappointing Today, I’ll take a look at the most important player from each squad in the NL East for the remainder of the 2020 season:
National League East
Miami Marlins: Sixto Sanchez
The Marlins start to the 2020 season was anything but normal. They began the playing season off to a surprising 2-1 start, but after a few bad decisions COVID-19 cost them 8 consecutive games.; The Marlins picked up Sixto Sanchez before the 2019 season in a deal with the Phillies that sent catcher JT Realmuto north.; Only a mere season and a half later, he has come up to the majors and posted an impressive 1.80 ERA in 25 innings pitched. The 22 year-old is showing that he belongs at the big league level with his great control and ability to light up the radar gun with his 100+ MPH fastball. The Marlins don’t have the world’s greatest offense, although the recent acquisition of Starling Marte has definitely helped, and could really use a reliable ace to get them some big wins down the stretch. Miami will need Sanchez’s overall production to stay relatively consistent in order for them to remain in the running in an extremely competitive National League and snag one of the bottom half playoff spots.
Atlanta Braves: Freddie Freeman
Atlanta holds a firm lead over the rest of the NL East (2.5 games up as of Sept. 12) and have performed extremely well when you take into account the lack of pitching that plagues this roster. Starter Max Fried has been quite the surprise this season, boasting a 1.98 ERA in 50 innings pitched, but with him on the IL, the Braves will turn even more so to their powerful offense. While names like Ronald Acuna Jr.and the hot Marcell Ozuna would be the fun pick here, I feel that the Braves just need a solid dose of old reliable Freddie Freeman. Freeman is hitting .335 in 45 total games played since the season restarted and will be a key piece for Atlanta making a run once the postseason rolls around. If the Braves can get some consistency from not only Freeman, but the rest of the roster (particularly pitching) they are poised to make a deep run.
Philadelphia Phillies: Zack Wheeler
The Phillies are an interesting team to me, their lineup looks completely stacked, always scoring runs and just smashing the baseball, but yet they still find ways to make games interesting or lose. The bullpen has been an absolute dumpster fire this year, which makes Wheeler (and really the whole starting staff) all the more important. If the starters go deep into the game,, the bullpen will not need to eat as many innings, and in that case, the Phillies have a better chance at winning. Simple as that. You know what you are going to get from Aaron Nola, a top of the rotation type of performance that keeps the ballclub in the game. Everyone knew going into the season that besides Nola, Philly didn’t have anyone else as a lock to keep them in games. In comes Wheeler by way of the Mets. Wheeler has been everything the Phillies thought they had gotten in Jake Arrieta back in 2018 and more. Through 8 starts, Wheeler is 4-0 with a 2.47 ERA. Amazing! If Wheeler can manage to keep this up the Phillies could make a run in the postseason complimenting him with that amazing offense.
New York Mets: Jacob DeGrom
Coming into 2020, the Mets had lofty goals that they just simply couldn’t reach. It has been a mixture of an inconsistent pitching staff (other than DeGrom and Edwin Diaz) and the bats just haven’t been as hot as expected. They are still fighting for a 7th or 8th seed in the playoffs, but their chances are dwindling by the day. If they want to try and sneak in they will need their 2x Cy Young winner/ 3x All-Star (would have been 4x, according to us) / former ROTY ace to keep up what he is doing. Along with that, they need to put together a string of wins in the upcoming weeks. DeGrom has a 2.4 WAR in 2020 with a 4-1 record and 1.67 ERA through 9 games started. That is extremely impressive, and is really what we have come to expect with DeGrom and his 2.58 career ERA. The problem is that the Mets just never seem to put it together, and always seem to be second fiddle in New York. Beyond this season, it is back to the drawing board for the Mets to try and surround DeGrom with a sufficient team in the oncoming years.
Washington Nationals: Carter Kieboom, Luis Garcia, and the Rest of the Young Guns
Let’s be honest. The reigning World Series champions just haven’t been impressive whatsoever in 2020. They have a very similar roster (minus Anthony Rendon who was a huge loss) but just haven’t been able to add another chapter to the Cinderella story. Even though the shortened season didn’t go quite as they planned, I don’t think they have much to worry about headed into the hopefully full, 162 game, 2021 season. They started out slow last year and continued to pour it on in the second half in order to sneak into the Wild Card, and just got hot and stayed hot at the right time. What’s to say they can’t do that again? For now, get your young guys like Kieboom, Garcia, Soto, and Robles more acclimated into the offense, let them continue to see Major League pitching, and see what they can do. This will be the best thing for Washington for now and into the future. It looks bright.
