New York Mets: The biggest threats in the National League

Yet another team in the NL East that will be a pain to get through, the Nationals have had a pretty solid offseason. Key acquisitions include Brad Hand, Jon Lester, Josh Bell and Kyle Schwarber. Lester gets added to what is already a stacked rotation. Hand becomes the closer, and Bell and Schwarber are two very powerful bats that could be key to their success.

What the success of the Nationals is really going to depend on is two things: the starting rotation, and the performances of Juan Soto and Trea Turner. We of course know how good the starting rotation is when healthy; there’s no question it’s one of the best in the game. Scherzer, Strasburg, Corbin, and now Lester is scary. Will they all stay healthy though is the big question.

The lineup, while it has some big names, is a little shaky for me. For one thing outside of Turner and Soto, they don’t have a lot of great average hitters. They do have a ton of power, but guys like Bell and Schwarber are high strikeout guys, and they’re going to be feature hitters in that lineup. Robles isn’t a great average hitter, Yan Gomes doesn’t scare me at this point in his career, and Carter Kieboom is still young and learning how to play at the next level.

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Yes, the Nationals will be a threat. Do I think that they’re the biggest threat in the division? No not at all, as their roster is certainly not better than the Braves in our own division.