Lets take a look at the National League at the1/3 mark of the Baseball season. The team playing the best baseball is the Chicago Cubs who are playing .700 going 35-15. Joe Madden is pushing all the right buttons while Jake Arrieta is proving he is the best pitcher in Baseball going 9-0 with a 1.56 ERA. Newly acquired Ben Zobrist is leading the Cubs in hitting .345 BA with a .445 OBP. The Nats have the next best record leading the NL East behind new manager Dusty Baker at 32-21. The Nats are winning despite the struggles of last year MVP Bryce Harper. Harper is hitting .242 BA, with a .415 OBP, with 13 HR's and 34 RBI's. Since it's and even year the Giants are back in first at 33-21. Lead by pitchers Madison Bumgarner who is 6-2, with a 2.12 ERA. Two great signings in the off season by the Giants were Johnny Cueto who is 8-1, with a 2.31 ERA and Jeff Samardzija who is 7-3 with a 2.84 ERA! The Pirates are second in the NL Central 29-22 are lead by the pitching of Garrett Cole who is 5-4 with a 2.72 ERA. The hitting is lead by Josh Harrison at .346, Starling Marte at .321 and Gregory Polanco at .310. The Pirates need All-World CF'er Andrew McCutchen who is hitting just .255 BA with a .336 OBP return to his old form. He does lead the team with 9 HR's! The Mets are 29-23 in second in the NL East. The Mets need Ace Matt Harvey to start pitching like an Ace. He is 4-7 with a 5.37 ERA. The other 3 youngsters are pitching great! Noah Syndergaard is 5-2 with a 1.84 ERA and lefty Steven Matz is 7-1 with a 2.60 ERA and Jake Degrom is 3-1 with a 2.62 ERA. The Dodgers are in second in the NL West at 28-25. Ace Clayton Kershaw is 7-1 with a 1.56 ERA. The Dodgers do miss Zack Grienke and need some other starters to pick up the slack for the Dodgers to catch the Giants. One team off to a slow start for them anyway is the St. Louis Cardinals who are in 3rd place in the NL Central. The pitching hasn't been as good as it was in years past. Adam Wainwright is 5-3 with a 5.71 ERA and Michael Wacha is 2-6 with a 4.99 ERA. It's too early to count out a team like the Cardinals.
Click here to view all of RJ Robbins's premium picks.
