Brave effort tops National League

By David Mullen

Here comes the 2021 Major League Baseball season, with thoughts of a 162-game season played in front of full stadiums later in the season and without goofy rules like a National League DH and the World Series being played at a neutral site in very neutral Arlington. 

It was bad enough the pandemic forced the Los Angeles Dodgers and Tampa Bay Rays to play the 2020 World Series more than 1,200 miles from their homes, but MLB took away their Applebee’s two for one entree coupons to keep players and coaches from the true Arlington experience.

The NL, which fought through an 80-game season in 2020, now faces the prospects of some sense of normalcy as we look at the season ahead. As always, “normal” means that East Coast pundits think the New York Mets are worth singing about. “Meet the Mets, meet the Mets, step right up and greet the Mets. Bring your kiddies, bring your wife, guaranteed to have the time of your life,” is how the Mets anthem was written back in the 1960s. Probably not a Grammy winner — or division winner — in 2021.

The Mets picked up talented shortstop Francisco Lindor and starter Carlos Carrasco in the off-season. They have the “Toast of the Town” in Pete Alonso. Their starting pitching, led by the incomparable Jacob deGrom, is as fragile as Manhattan fashion model’s ego. Noah Syndergaard is starting on the disabled list, not the mound and the kings of Queens have too much competition.

The Atlanta Braves are balanced, with their only weakness in middle relief. They kept outfielder Marcell Ozuna and picked up pitcher Charlie Morton to add to a team that already had stars in Freddie Freeman and Ronald Acuna Jr. Remember, they were one game away from the World Series in 2020. The Dodgers won’t forget.

A truncated year away from their own World Championship, the Washington Nationals hope to return to success. After a winning percentage of .574 and a phenomenal playoff run in 2019, they were vetoed from the playoffs in 2020 and won just 26 games. They improved by getting reliever Brad Hand and hitters Josh Bell and Kyle Schwarber. But starting pitching is key, and ace Stephen Strasburg is becoming as reliable in Washington as a partisan vote from Sen. Joe Manchin.  

The Phillies signed J. T. Realmuto to improve their battery, which Philadelphia fans have been known to throw at the opposition. They paid a lot for Bryce Harper to become the missing ingredient, but the Phillies bullpen is as bad as a Pat’s cheesesteak without Cheez Whiz.

The Miami Marlins shocked the baseball world in last year’s short season, even making the playoffs despite giving up 41 more runs than they scored. They are young, improving and have “Donnie Baseball” Mattingly as manager. But they — like Philadelphia — lack a dependable bullpen, and a full year will catch up with them, especially in this tough division.  

The NL Central is the worst division in baseball, with more questions than a four-year-old. The St. Louis Cardinals made the playoffs last year two games over .500, but picked up Gold Glove third baseman Nolan Arenado from the Colorado Rockies to fill the gap at the hot corner. 

The Milwaukee Brewers talk about improving but never do, relying on outfielder Christian Yelich to recapture his MVP buzz.

The Cincinnati Reds are the “Little Red Machine,” and lost ace Trevor Bauer to the Dodgers. The Chicago Cubs also lost key players in the off-season and still can’t figure out what to do with once revered Kris Bryant. The Pittsburgh Pirates can thank the Texas Rangers for keeping them from being rated as the worst team in baseball this year.  

When the regular season ends, a team has to be Central Division champions. Like a 4-year-old, one team will look up and ask, “Are we there yet?”

In the NL West, it’s a race between the Dodgers and the (bat) flipping San Diego Padres. It is a fight reminiscent of two drivers finding one parking spot at a SoCal Trader Joe’s.

The Dodgers are the World Champions, one year older and signed Bauer as if they needed him. Outfielder Mookie Betts is signed through 2032 — the year the team will have been in LA longer than their original home of Brooklyn — and is one of the top players in baseball. Highland Park’s Clayton Kershaw finally got his ring. Another title looks like smooth sailing for Los Angeles.

But the Padres have a prayer. They picked up former Ranger Yu Darvish and Blake Snell to strengthen their starting pitching. They have the volatile but talented Manny Machado, young superstar Fernando Tatis Jr., and there is little to like from the other division rivals. San Diego will rack up wins.

The San Francisco Giants could be fun to watch. They have a pedigree in Mike Yastrzemski, Boston great Carl’s grandson. The Rockies have Irving’s Trevor Story, Charlie Blackmon and lots of beer in the centerfield brewpub at Coors Field. And the Arizona Diamondbacks, like the Rockies, are not built to win.

Bauer will power the Dodgers to the NL Championship Series against the upstart Braves. For no better reason than I just can’t trust the LA closer tandem of Kenley Jansen or Blake Treinen, I am all in on Atlanta to win the National League in 2021.

Next week, we look at the American League, why the New York Yankees are so overrated, how the Texas Rangers are a 2021 version of the “Bad News Bears” without Walter Matthau or Tatum O’Neal and will crown an overall champion.

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