NL East Update

ATLANTA BRAVES

Who's Hot: 21 year old Freddie Freeman leads the  Braves with 11 hits in 28 at bats this spring. The 6'5" first baseman hit .319 with 18 homers and 87 RBIs in AAA last year and is ranked the #17 prospect by mlb.com. Jason Heyward (7/18), Nate McLouth (7/15) and Alex Gonzalez (9/24) are also swinging the bat well for Atlanta. On the mound, Derek Lowe has thrown 5 shutout innings in his first two starts, lefty reliever Jonny Venters has allowed 1 hit in his 5 shutout innings, Christhian Martinez has 5 2/3 shutout innings and Brett Oberholtzer has allowed just 1 unearned run in 6 innings.

Who's Not: Ex-Cardinal Joe Mather is hitting .150 (3/20) to start the spring. Infielders Shawn Bowman (2/16) and Brooks Conrad (2/17), and outfielder Jordan Schafer (6/33) are also off to slow starts.

Of Note: Chipper Jones gets ready to begin his 18th Major League Season, all of them with the Atlanta Braves. He played a career low 95 games last year due to injury, but is looking to bounce back in 2011. He is currently just 10 hits shy of 2500 for his career and 14 homeruns shy of 450. This spring he is hitting .269 (7/26).


FLORIDA MARLINS

Who's Hot: 21 year old Matt Dominguez leads the Marlins with 10 RBIs this spring while batting .353 (6/17) with a pair of homers. Dominguez hit .252 with 81 RBIs in AA last season. Gaby Sanchez has 4 doubles and is 6 for 14, while Hanley Ramirez, Omar Infante and Emilio Bonifacio all have 6 hits in their first 16 at bats. Elih Villanueva has thrown 5 innings of shutout ball in two spring appearances, and Javy Vazquez looks to bounce back after a rough year with the Yankees in 2010 and has thrown 7 innings and allowed just 2 runs in his first two spring starts.

Who's Not: Catchers Brad Davis and Brett Hayes are both hitting .100 (1/10). Ozzie Martinez is hitting .200 (3/15) and Scott Cousins while hitting .250 (6/24) has struck out a team high 9 times this spring. In AAA last year Cousins struck out just 78 times in 410 at bats earning him a late season call-up, however in his debut season with the Marlins, he recorded 13 strikeouts in 37 at bats. Josh Johnson posted a 2.30 ERA last season in 28 starts last year but has an ERA of 8.44 through his first two starts this spring.

Of Note: Mike Stanton (not the left-handed setup man for the Braves/Yankees back in the day), burst onto the scene last year as a 20 year old rookie and homered 22 times in 100 games. A year older and ready to begin his first full year in the majors, Stanton has been slowed by a quad injury that has kept him out of grapefruit league play thus far this spring. The Marlins on Stanton to continue to develop to give Hanley Ramirez some protection in the middle of the lineup.


NEW YORK METS

Who's Hot: David Murphy has a team high 4 doubles and 6 RBIs while hitting .292 (7/24) so far this spring. Fernando Martinez (7/20), Josh Thole (7/20), Scott Hairston (7/17), and Jason Bay (7/18) are all hitting at least .350. Chris Young has made just 36 starts over the past 3 seasons (4 starts last year), but is looking to start fresh with the Mets after spending the last 5 seasons in San Diego. In 3 starts this spring, Young has an ERA of 2.00.

Who's Not: David Wright is hitless in 12 at bats this spring. Lefty Oliver Perez may have pitched himself out of contention for a spot in the starting rotation after allowing 7 runs and 10 hits in 7 innings while walking 5. Perez was 0-5 with a 6.80 ERA in 17 appearances in 2010.

Of Note: Carlos Beltran has played in just one game this spring due to tendinitis in his left knee. Beltran has played in just 145 games over the past two seasons due to issues with his right knee and has moved from centerfield to rightfield as a result. It remains to be seen if he will be ready to go come opening day or if he will have to start the season on the disabled list.


PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES

Who's Hot: Ryan Howard has 3 homeruns in his first 26 spring at bats to lead the team. Ben Francisco, John Mayberry and Brian Schneider have all gone deep twice this spring. Wilson Valdez leads the Phillies this spring with 10 hits and is hitting .476. Cole Hamels, Cliff Lee, and Roy Halladay have combined to throw 21 innings this spring allowing just 4 earned runs and striking out 20.

Who's Not: Roy Oswalt has given up 6 runs and a pair of long balls in his first 4 2/3 innings this spring. Jimmy Rollins is off to a slow start batting just .207 (6/29). Michael Martinez (4/23) and Domonic Brown (1/16) have also had it rough so far.

Of Note: While the story of the spring for the Phillies should be their ridiculous rotation, it's unfortunately Chase Utley. Utley is out indefinitely with patellar tendinitis in his right knee. This would be a huge blow if he has to miss any significant time as he's a big part of their offense. Utley was limited to just 115 games last year, but in 2008 and 2009 he had 100+ runs, 100+ rbis and 30+ HRs in each season. Utley has also made 5 straight all star teams.


WASHINGTON NATIONALS

Who's Hot: Michael Morse leads the team with 3 homeruns and is hitting .435 (10/23). Danny Espinosa has driven 10 runs in 7 games and is hitting .455 (10/22) with a pair of homers. Four of Ryan Zimmerman's 5 hits have gone for extra bases and he's batting .357 with 6 RBIs. Brian Bixler is hitting .538 (7/13) with 8 runs and 2 steals in 9 games. Jason Marquis and Jordan Zimmerman have combined to throw 13 scoreless innings in 4 starts.

Who's Not: Jayson Werth with his new ridiculous contract is 1 for 13 so far this spring. Rick Ankiel is hitting just .188 but all 3 of his hits are for extra bases (1 double, 2 homers). Nyjer Morgan is hitting .158 (3/19) and has been caught stealing twice in four tries.

Of Note: Bryce Harper was the first overall pick in last year's draft and he's already making a name for himself this spring. After batting .343 in 9 games in the Arizona Fall League with an OPS over 1.000, he has continued to excel against Big League pitching this spring going 5 for 14 with a pair of doubles and 4 RBIs this spring. Just 18 years old he's still a longshot to make the club out of spring training, but the Nationals have to be very happy with what they're seeing.