The Phillies, Marlins, Rockies and Cards: Only National Teams Above .500

There are 16 teams in the National League.

Only the Philadelphia Phillies (19-9), the Florida Marlins (18-10), the Colorado Rockies (17-10) and the St. Louis Cardinals (17-13) are above .500.

Seventy-five percent of National League teams have not won more than one-half of their games.

The 2011 National League may be one of the weakest leagues or it may be one of the most unbalanced leagues in history.

There were several seasons during the 1950s when only three of the eight National League teams finished above .500, but that could be explained by the fact that the Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Giants and Milwaukee Braves usually had powerful teams.

In 1969, the first season of divisional play as well as the year that New York’s most beloved team, the New York Mets won the World Series. Only three of the 12 teams (the Philadelphia Phillies, the expansion Montreal Expos and San Diego Padres) were below the .500 mark.

The Philadelphia Phillies have the best record in the National League, but they are far from a team without major problems. The Phillies are averaging 4.46 runs a game, batting .260, have a .330 on base average and are slugging .386, which is 10th in the league.

Due to a severe injury to second base great Chase Utley, journey man Wilson Valdez is the regular second baseman. The departure of Jason Werth has forced manager Charlie Manuel to use Ben Francisco and John Mayberry in right field.

Catcher Carlos Ruiz, after a great 2010 season, is hitting only .226 and an aging Raul Ibanez is struggling to reach the .170 mark.

Closer Brad Lidge, who has had meteoric highs and lows in his checkered career, has yet to throw a pitch this season. Replacement Jose Contreras is also on the disabled list.

Still, the Phillies are the “class” of the Eastern Division and are a serious contender for the World Championship, thanks to four outstanding starters.

Roy Halladay may be as great as any pitcher in the last 40 years. Cliff Lee is more inconsistent than Halladay, but the left-hander is a major force. Roy Oswalt has been solid for years when he isn’t hurt and Cole Hamels is back on track.

The Florida Marlins offense is worse than that of the Phillies, but the Marlins have a deep pitching staff that rivals any in the league. Starters Josh Johnson, Rickey Nolasco and Anibal Sanchez will keep the Marlins in the race until the very end. The bullpen appears decent.

The Marlins are averaging 4.61 runs a game, batting .254, have a .327 on base average, and are slugging .401.

Jorge de la Rosa and Jhoulys Chacin have been the Rockies‘ best pitchers, which is not good because Ubaldo Jiminez, who faltered near the end of last season, is 0-2 with a 7.20 ERA. The Rockies lack strong starting pitching, but the bullpen, led by Huston Street, is fairly solid.

The offense, led by Troy Tulowitski, who is this decade’s Derek Jeter and a seemingly resurgent Todd Helton, averages 4.67 runs a game. The team is hitting an anemic .238, has a .324 on base average and is slugging .387.

Finally, we come to the Cardinals. They lead the league in scoring (5.37 runs a game) and are hitting .293. They have a great .363 on base average and are slugging .446.

Led by the greatest player in the game, Albert Pujols, and Matt Holliday, the Cardinals will continue to score.

Pujols is hitting only .231, while Holliday (.409) and Lance Berkman (.402) led the team in average. Both figure to cool off, but Pujols should pick up much of the slack.

The Cards’ pitching is above average, allowing 4.10 runs a game with a 3.43 ERA. The Pythagorean indicates that the Cards should be 19-11 instead of 17-13.

Something is wrong when 75 percent of the league is below .500.

Of course, it is early in May and things will change.

The Atlanta Braves have split 28 games and the Cincinnati Reds, Milwaukee Brewers and defending World Champion San Francisco Giants should win more games than they lose.

In 1973, the Mets won a mere 82 games and were National League Champions. In 2006, the Cardinals won 83 games and won the World Series.

A team with a similar number of wins in 2011 could win the World Series.

To paraphrase Chester A. Riley: “What a revoltin’ development that would be.”

Reference:

Baseball Reference

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