The NL East could have several strong teams this year. The Phillies appear to be in win-now mode. The Mets have made major changes. The Braves should recover from a down year in 2025. Even the Marlins could make some noise. The Nationals? Well, they are here.<\/p>\n
Key departures: Jarred Kelenic, Marcell Ozuna, Pierce Johnson, Nick Allen<\/p>\n
Key arrivals: Mauricio Dubon, Mike Yastrzemski, James Karinchak, Martin Perez, Jonah Heim<\/p>\n
The Braves had their first losing season since 2017 last year, largely because of massive injuries to their starting rotation. Bryce Elder was the only Braves starter to make more than 23 starts and he had a 5.30 ERA and\u2026 well, I think you can see the problem.<\/p>\n
Otherwise Atlanta returns pretty much everyone, including re-signing closer Raisel Iglesias. They\u2019ll have a full year of Ronald Acu\u00f1a Jr., which should help.<\/p>\n
At Wrigley Field: Sept. 14-15-16<\/p>\n
SB Nation team site: Battery Power<\/a><\/p>\n Key departures: Valente Bellozo, Joey Wiemer, Eric Wagaman, Edward Cabrera, Ryan Weathers, George Soriano<\/p>\n Key arrivals: Zach Brzycky, Pete Fairbanks, Esteury Ruiz, Owen Caissie, Chris Paddack<\/p>\n The Marlins won 79 games last year. That might not sound too great, but it put them just four games out of the last wild-card spot and they seem improved this year, despite trading Edward Cabrera to the Cubs for Owen Caissie and prospects. Caissie gets a chance to play every day. This, hopefully, is a trade that helps both teams.<\/p>\n The key to Marlins success this year will likely be Sandy Alc\u00e1ntara and whether his first full year back from Tommy John surgery is successful. Overall his numbers don\u2019t look great but over his last 12 starts he posted a 3.13 ERA and 0.991 WHIP, with 18 walks and 69 strikeouts in 77.2 innings. Keep that up and the Marlins could be a wild-card contender.<\/p>\n And they could look very different by the time the Cubs face them, which won\u2019t be until September.<\/p>\n At Wrigley Field: Sept. 22-23-24<\/p>\n Key departures: Pete Alonso, Edwin Diaz, Brandon Nimmo, Starling Marte, Jeff McNeil, Ryan Helsley, Cedric Mullins, Tyler Rogers, Gregory Soto, Ryne Stanek, Richard Lovelady, Drew Smith, Frankie Montas<\/p>\n Key arrivals: Marcus Semien, Luis Robert Jr., Devin Williams, Jorge Polanco, Bo Bichette, Luke Weaver, Jose Rojas, Carl Edwards Jr., Vidal Bruj\u00e1n, Austin Barnes, Craig Kimbrel, Ben Rortvedt<\/p>\n The story of the 2026 Mets is those two lists. The Mets finally admitted that what they had been doing the last couple of years wasn\u2019t working and blew it up. You\u2019ll definitely need a scorecard to ID most of these new Mets.<\/p>\n The thing is, they traded for and signed a lot of guys but\u2026 some of them are going to be playing out of position. They expect Jorge Polanco to be their first baseman and he has played exactly zero MLB games there. Bo Bichette\u2019s going to third and\u2026 well, same, zero MLB games at third.<\/p>\n Maybe it\u2019ll work, maybe it won\u2019t. It will sure be interesting to watch.<\/p>\n At Wrigley Field: April 17-18-19<\/p>\n At New York: June 22-23-24-25<\/p>\n SB Nation team site: Amazin\u2019 Avenue<\/a><\/p>\n Key departures: Max Kepler, David Robertson, Jordan Romano, Ranger Su\u00e1rez, Harrison Bader, Matt Strahm, Nick Castellanos<\/p>\n Key arrivals: Adolis Garcia, Brad Keller, Genesis Cabrera, Chase Shugart, Tim Mayza<\/p>\n The Phillies are running back much the same crew that won 96 games last year and 95 the year before. They\u2019ve made the postseason four straight years, but haven\u2019t gotten back to the World Series since they lost to the Astros there in 2022.<\/p>\n So maybe it\u2019ll work again, but these guys are all getting older and there\u2019s some controversy surrounding some comments ownership made about Bryce Harper<\/a>.<\/p>\n Kyle Schwarber seems like he can still keep hitting homers for some time, though, and the Phillies rewarded the free agent DH with a five-year deal, so he\u2019ll likely finish his career in Philadelphia. That\u2019s a monument to Jed Hoyer\u2019s worst decision as Cubs POBO.<\/p>\n As you can see here, the Cubs will face the Phillies seven times in an 11-day span in April and then not again until\u2026 well, maybe the postseason. That\u2019d be fun.<\/p>\n At Wrigley Field: April 20-21-22-23<\/p>\n At Philadelphia: April 13-14-15<\/p>\n