Ranking the 10 best players in the National League East

The National League East might be the best division in baseball. The New York Mets and Braves are in a dogfight to win it and are both 30+ games over .500. The Phillies are almost 20 games over .500 and have been one of the better teams in baseball since firing Joe Girardi.

The Marlins have some of the best young pitching in all of baseball. The Nationals, despite losing Juan Soto, are a combined ten games under .500 against teams outside of the NL East. They are a whopping 11-46 against their division foes.

This division is so loaded with talent I believe all-stars like Jeff McNeil, Starling Marte, Edwin Diaz, and Dansby Swanson don't even crack the top ten.

10) Best players in the NL East: Max Fried

Spencer Strider has been the Braves pitcher getting the most attention. The mustache and the strikeouts are definitely worth talking about, and Strider is a young arm that has taken the league by storm in his rookie season. However, he's not the ace of the Braves staff.

Max Fried has been one of the more underrated pitchers in the league in my opinion. He doesn't have the overpowering stuff that someone like Strider has, but he's as consistent as they come.

So far this season, Fried has gone 13-6 with a 2.50 ERA in 27 starts. He was an all-star and will get Cy Young votes. The southpaw is seventh in the National League in wins, fourth in ERA, and third with a 166 ERA+.

What sticks out about Fried is his remarkable consistency. Even the best starters in the game have off nights. When Fried has his rare off night, he keeps his team in games.

In his 27 starts, he's allowed three earned runs or less in 24 of them. He's allowed four earned runs or less in 26 of them. He's gone at least five innings in all of them.

With the offense the Braves have, getting five plus innings with three runs or fewer means games will be won. Atlanta has won 18 of his 27 starts.

Fried finished fifth in the NL Cy Young balloting in the shortened 2020 season and had a 3.04 ERA in 28 starts last season. He's enjoying a career year and at 28 years old seems to be hitting his prime for the defending champions.

9) Best players in the NL East: Pete Alonso

Pete Alonso burst onto the scene his rookie season hitting a rookie record 53 home runs. He broke the franchise record with that number and is already seventh on the Mets all-time home run list despite being in year four.

Had it not been for the shortened 2020 season, Alonso would likely have four straight 30 home run seasons to begin his career. His consistency in the power department is something we haven't really seen from a Met outside of the likes of Strawberry, Wright, and Piazza.

Even though he won't get to 53 home runs, I believe the 2022 season has been Alonso's best. He's slashed .270/.347/.509 with 35 home runs and 112 RBI. He leads the National League in RBI, is tied for third in home runs, seventh in OPS, and eighth in OPS+. Alonso also leads the league in intentional walks.

Alonso has developed into a much better overall hitter this season, especially with runners in scoring position. In those situations he has a 1.027 OPS, and has been the best run producer in the National League.

Alonso has slumped to finish out the season but for most of it was consistently producing runs and was a key reason the Mets were winning games at such a high rate.

Alonso does have to work on his defense as that's a huge reason he only has a 2.9 fWAR. Regardless, he's one of the best first basemen in baseball and is a player the Mets need to extend in the near future.

8) Best players in the NL East: Zack Wheeler

Zack Wheeler was laying the groundwork in his final seasons as a Met to eventually become the pitcher he is right now. In those final two seasons he was among the best starting pitchers in the National League in the second halves of those seasons.

Once signing with the Phillies, the right hander put it all together. He had an ERA below 3.00 in the truncated 2020 season, finishing 12th in the National League Cy Young balloting.

In his first full season in Philadelphia, Wheeler had his best season yet. He finished second in the Cy Young balloting, but I believe he should've won the award. He had almost 60 more innings pitched than the winner Corbin Burnes which I believe should've mattered more than it inevitably did to the voters.

This season, Wheeler has gone 11-7 with a 3.07 ERA in 23 starts. He's missed some time due to injury but when healthy, he's been a workhorse for the Phillies.

Since joining the Phillies, Wheeler is fifth in the National League with a 2.90 ERA and is fifth in the National League with 422.1 innings pitched. HIs 2.82 FIP is third in the league since joining the Phillies.

Letting Wheeler go never made much sense in my eyes and for a team that struggles in the health department particularly with pitchers, Wheeler would've been huge as a guy who has taken the ball every fifth day most of the time and goes deep into the games he starts.

7) Best players in the NL East: Austin Riley

Austin Riley is a guy who burst onto the scene in 2019 hitting home runs and hitting for average to begin his career. He then struggled once pitchers adjusted to him, he struggled mightily. Riley was also forced to play some left field for Atlanta and didn't look great there either.

These struggles continued in 2020, but he blossomed into a superstar last season. Riley finally got to play third base every day and had an MVP caliber season.

He slashed .303/.367/.531 with 33 home runs and 107 RBI last season for the World Champion Braves. He won the Silver Slugger Award and finished seventh in the MVP balloting although I believe he should've finished higher.

Riley played in 160 games which led the National League and his remarkable second half (.976 second-half OPS) was a key reason Atlanta was able to come back and win the division.

This season, Riley has continued his star level play. Riley's 145 WRC+ ranks sixth in the National League.

Riley is second in the National League in home runs and total bases. He leads the league in extra-base hits with 74.

An argument can be made that Riley is the player teams fear the most in one of the best lineups in baseball. He will finish in the top-10 in the MVP balloting once again.

5) Best players in the NL East: Francisco Lindor

Francisco Lindor gets a lot of unwarranted flack from Mets fans and baseball fans because of his contract. Last season he was awful for his first two months in New York, only to finish with a respectable 100 OPS+ and Gold Glove defense. He looked like Francisco Lindor for much of the season after the atrocious start.

This season, he's looked completely like the Francisco Lindor the Mets traded for and extended on the massive deal. He's consistently produced offensively and defensively and his leadership is second to none.

He's slashed .268/.344/.449 with 24 home runs and 94 RBI. He's added 15 stolen bases and another typical year of solid defense at a premium position.

Lindor has played in all but one game for the Mets this season despite fracturing his finger. His affect on winning has been very clear as when he plays well, the Mets seem to win.

His 124 OPS+ is the second highest mark of his career, and the 24 home runs and 94 RBI are both franchise records for Mets shortstops.

Lindor ranks seventh in all of baseball among position players with 6.1 fWAR. That mark leads all shortstops.

With the season he has had, Lindor should get some MVP votes. He's been worth every penny and then some.

4) Best players in the NL East: Ronald Acuna Jr.

Ronald Acuna Jr. is the hardest player to rank on this list. When he's right, he's a top-three player in the game. He's as electrifying of a player as I have ever seen and he can carry a team for long stretches.

When right, Acuna Jr. would be number one on this list. The problem is, he's not fully healthy right now.

Acuna tore his ACL in July of 2021, ending his season prematurely. He was having a ridiculous offensive season with 24 home runs in just 82 games played.

Acuna returned in May of this season and hasn't looked like the same player. He has slashed .268/.355/.400 with 11 home runs and 39 RBI. The 11 home runs are startling, as he's played in 22 more games this season than he did last season yet his home run count has been cut in half.

His 112 WRC+ ranks below guys like Rowdy Tellez and Seth Brown. His 11 home runs are fewer than guys like Gio Urshela and Jorge Mateo.

He's been a good player, of course, but nothing like the superstar he has been in the past.

I assume Acuna will get back to the level he was at next season. He says his knee has been bothering him this season, and I assume that will be better next season. Knowing this makes him hard to rank even when he needs to be on this list.

3) Best players in the NL East: Max Scherzer

The Mets signed Max Scherzer this past offseason in a move to try and put them over the top. They already had Jacob deGrom in the rotation. They traded for Chris Bassitt as well. Signing Scherzer gave the Mets a top three nobody can match.

The signing did come with some risk. He just turned 38 this past July and had dealt with an arm issue in the postseason.

Scherzer has shown that he is indeed an ageless wonder and has been as good as ever in a Mets uniform.

Scherzer has missed substantial time due to oblique injuries, but figures to be on his way back shortly.

In his 20 starts as a Met he's gone 9-4 with a 2.26 ERA. He's averaged almost 6.5 innings per start including going at least five in every start. He's gone at least six innings in all but three of his starts. He's allowed three runs or fewer in all but three of his starts.

Scherzer has been consistently amazing as a Met and the short time both he and deGrom were healthy at the same time, it was unbelievable to watch.

If the Mets have those two healthy for the postseason, they will be incredibly hard to beat.

2) Best players in the NL East: Bryce Harper

The top two on this list are pretty interchangeable. In a ranking like this, I'd usually side with the position player over the pitcher if it is close because the position players play every day. In Bryce Harper's case, a fractured left thumb and a small tear of his UCL have kept him out for a large portion of the season. With that in mind, he's number two on this list.

The reigning MVP has produced like an MVP when healthy this season despite being restricted to DH duty for most of the season.

Harper has slashed .308/.387/.569 with 17 home runs and 56 RBI in just 80 games. Harper's 160 WRC+ would be fifth in all of baseball and second in the National League if he had enough plate appearances to qualify.

Harper's contract despite the length and dollar amount has looked like a steal and is most definitely not one of the worst in the division.

The Phillies are poised to break their playoff drought and with Harper back in the middle of their lineup to go with the other bats they have and their two aces, Philadelphia isn't to be messed with.

Harper has actually struggled since returning from the thumb injury, posting an .830 OPS in 16 games. For most players, that's a good number, but for Harper, his season OPS has dropped by 30 points. When he gets back in a groove, watch out.

1) Best players in the NL East: Jacob deGrom

There isn't much to say about Jacob deGrom that isn't already known. He is the best pitcher in baseball and one of the best pitchers in Mets history. He's won two Cy Young Awards and was on pace for a third before the injuries started last season.

deGrom had an absurd 1.08 ERA in 15 first-half starts in 2021. Unfortunately, he didn't make a single second-half start. deGrom returned in Spring Training and looked as dominant as ever, but then had a stress reaction in his right scapula that forced him to miss the first four months of the season.

When deGrom returned in August, I didn't know what to expect. I certainly didn't expect him to be as good as he was in 2021. At least not right away. It turns out that deGrom has been almost as good as he has been really throughout his entire career.

In eight starts deGrom has gone 5-2 with a 2.01 ERA. His stuff is as good as ever, pumping 100 mph fastballs consistently paired with a wicked 93+ mph slider. He's even mixed in his curveball and changeup more this season. He rarely used those pitches in 2021 because he really didn't need to.

He still doesn't really need to but when all four of those pitches are working, it makes him even more unfair to face.

deGrom has struck out 73 batters in 43.1 innings pitched (13.3 K/9). He's walked just four batters (0.7 BB/9.) He's allowed an absurd 4.6 hits per nine. Zac Gallen leads the National League with 5.9 H/9. What deGrom has done when he is probably as rusty as he is going to be after not pitching in 13 months is hard to fathom.

deGrom's 1.45 FIP suggests he's dealt with some bad luck which isn't a huge surprise to Mets fans. deGrom has been lights out and has gone seven innings in two of his last three starts.

When deGrom is able to give length, the opposition really doesn't stand much of a chance. I truly cannot wait to see him finally make his first career home playoff start after waiting for so long.