Baseball Update: NL East

The Baseball Update is a comprehensive look at the absurd.

Florida Marlins: After losing seven straight, the Mets bullpen jumped started the Marlins new three game winning streak. The swimming mammals are two games ahead of Philadelphia and the offensive is starting to click. Just last night, the Marlins scored six runs in the tenth inning to beat the Cubs. Jorge Cantu has been the best hitter. He leads the team in average, home runs, and RBI's. I still think they are too young to win the division, but I can see them competing for the Wild Card.

Philadelphia Phillies: Injuries so far has hit the Phillies pitching staff. Both Cole Hammels and Brad Lidge are injured but both of them are most likely not going to miss a lot of time. Lidge most likely can pitch this weekend against the Mets. Hammels on the other hand has had some real bad luck to start the year. Hammels was first hit by a line drive in the shoulder. Luckily he didn't miss any starts. Then he sprained his ankle. He will most likely make his scheduled start against the Cardinals. Nevertheless though, the Phillies need Hammels to stay healthy. They have a great lineup, but their pitching is kind of iffy. They can't rely on Jamie Moyer for the entire season?

New York Mets: There are already rumors circulating that if the Mets don't improve, manager Jerry Manuel could receive the same fate as Willie Randolph. But can you really blame Manuel. This is a team that relies on Oliver Perez and Livan Hernandez to be starting pitchers! Those two don't exactly inspire confidence. And what about that new and improved bullpen? They have blown back-to-back leads just this week. This team thought adding J.J. Putz and Fransico Rodriguez would be the answer. I don't blame Manuel at all, I blame GM Omar Minaya. He is the one that has constructed this team. He is the one who thought Hernandez and Perez could be back of the rotation starters. He's the one who's job should be on the line.

Notes:

The swimming mammals are not big fans of the Mets stalling tactics.

Could the great story about Phillies catcher Chris Coste be coming to an end?

It's only April, but the Mets are playing like it is September.

The Braves are also fighting injuries.

The Natinals are finding new ways to lose.

This picture alone describes the type of season the Natinals are having.