Matt Holliday and St. Louis are back again. Stephen Strasburg leads a deep rotation in Washington. And the loaded Los Angeles Dodgers think it’s their time to shine.
Yes, it is a very familiar group of favorites. Throw in Freddie Freeman and Atlanta, and the NL list practically is complete. But there’s always one team that crashes the party at the top; see MVP Andrew McCutchen and the 2013 Pirates.
With Arizona and Los Angeles starting the season Down Under in Australia, the race is on to see which teams will finish on top in the National League.
“Our team’s really good,” Dodgers starting pitcher Zack Greinke said. “We did really good, even with a bunch of injuries last year. We have some young guys about ready to come up if needed. I mean, the expectations should be really high here.”
Washington was among the favorites last year, coming off a breakthrough season. But Bryce Harper was hurt, and the Nationals underperformed in their final season under manager Davey Johnson, finishing 10 games back of NL East champion Atlanta.
Enter Matt Williams, who gets his first job as a major league manager after three seasons as Arizona’s third base coach. The rotation is one of the best in the majors, with Doug Fister coming over in a December trade after winning 14 games for Detroit last season. Harper is healthy again, and Strasburg looks just fine after October elbow surgery.
“The more experience you get, the better chance you have to succeed, and I think that’s kind of the lesson from last year,” third baseman Ryan Zimmerman said.
Powered by another great season from Freeman, the Braves breezed to the division title last year. Atlanta has made it to the playoffs in two of Fredi Gonzalez’s first three years as manager but still is looking to advance for the first time since it lost to Arizona in the 2001 division series.
The rotation was beset by injuries in spring training, but Atlanta should be in the mix again – even after it lost catcher Brian McCann and right-hander Tim Hudson in free agency.
The Central belongs to St. Louis, which has won the division five times in the last decade. There’s no reason to believe the Cardinals won’t make it six times in 11 years.
Postseason darling Michael Wacha and ace Adam Wainwright are part of the division’s best rotation. The lineup remains stacked even after Carlos Beltran departed in free agency. All-Star slugger Allen Craig missed much of the postseason last year, and the Cardinals still made it to the World Series.
The real intrigue in the division comes after the Cardinals. The Central had both wild cards last season, with Pittsburgh making the playoffs for the first time in 21 years and Cincinnati another four games back in third.
The Pirates and Reds each lost a key player in free agency, while the Brewers get Ryan Braun back from his season-ending, 65-game drug suspension. A.J. Burnett went from the Pirates to the Phillies after a productive two years in Pittsburgh, while the Reds lost leadoff hitter Shin-Soo Choo to a big contract with the Rangers.
“We’re still hungry,” Pirates catcher Russell Martin said. “We did some special things last year, but everybody was disappointed with how it finished. I don’t know what all the ‘experts’ are saying, but I consider myself an expert, and I think we’re going to do better than we did last year.”
The muddled Central could mean another playoff slot for one of the West teams.
Los Angeles’ biggest deal of the offseason was a $215-million, seven-year contract for its own Clayton Kershaw, who won the NL Cy Young Award for the second time in three seasons. Kershaw, steady Adrian Gonzalez and Cuban sensation Yasiel Puig helped the Dodgers all the way to the championship series.
Health is one of the biggest concerns in Southern California, with Matt Kemp coming back from left ankle surgery. If the Dodgers can keep the talented outfielder and shortstop Hanley Ramirez in the lineup alongside Gonzalez, look out.
Arizona made one of the biggest trades of the offseason, acquiring Mark Trumbo from the Angels in a three-team swap that also involved the White Sox. Trumbo hit 34 homers last year and should help protect Paul Goldschmidt in the lineup. The Diamondbacks also signed Bronson Arroyo to provide innings.
The Giants are another team that could surprise. Hudson joins a rotation that also includes 13-game winner Madison Bumgarner and Matt Cain, and Michael Morse should add some pop in left field.
“The way this team is put together, everybody has a job, and everybody just does their job,” Morse said. “History shows it, this is a winning organization.”
A look at the NL in predicted order of finish:
NL East
Washington Nationals.
Atlanta Braves.
New York Mets.
Philadelphia Phillies.
Miami Marlins.
NL Central
St. Louis Cardinals.
Pittsburgh Pirates.
Cincinnati Reds.
Milwaukee Brewers.
Chicago Cubs.
NL West
L.A. Dodgers.
Arizona Diamondbacks.
San Diego Padres.
San Francisco Giants.
Colorado Rockies.
AP freelance writer Carl Kotala in Viera, Fla., and AP Sports Writer Janie McCauley in San Francisco contributed to this report.
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