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New York Mets 32-46 (4 th in NL East) Eye Popping Number 1.69 If it weren’t for Jacob DeGrom, who knows where the New York Mets would be right now? He may have cut his hair over the offseason, but he hasn’t lost his powers. Statistically, DeGrom has been one of the best pitchers in baseball this year. He leads all pitchers in Wins Above Replacement (4.9) and ERA (1.69). His 1.69 ERA would be the second lowest ERA since Greg Maddux last posted a 1.63 ERA in 1995. The starting rotation was hyped up to begin the season, as the team was finally able to start all five of DeGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Steven Matz, Matt Harvey, and Zach Wheeler, who came up through the minor leagues together but injuries kept them from playing together in years past. The team traded Harvey after he imploded, Wheeler hasn’t lived up to expectations even though injuries have kept him from reaching them. Matz has been ok, and Syndergaard was put on the disabled list. DeGrom h...

Washington Nationals 41-37 (3 rd in NL East) Eye Popping Number 165 Since coming to the Washington Nationals before the 2015 season, Max Scherzer was entering the wrong side of 30, and all he’s done is top his year from before. He has topped Clayton Kershaw as the best pitcher in baseball, and he’s well on his way to a third consecutive NL Cy Young award this year. He’s blowing away other pitchers by leading the league with 165 strikeouts on the year. He’s well on pace to set a new career high and topping 300 strikeouts for the first time in his career. Oh, and he’s got a 2.04 ERA, which is ok I guess too. Biggest Surprise On May 15 th , the Nationals played the New York Yankees. Nineteen year old, Juan Soto, hit a home run in that game, his 6 th of the year. The funny part? Soto made his MLB debut 5 days later on May 20 th .   The game was suspended and later finished on June 18 th . Soto himself has been a revelation to the Nation...

Philadelphia Phillies 41-36 (2 nd in NL East) Eye Popping Number 10.4% The Philadelphia Phillies, just like their NL East rival Atlanta Braves, are trying to put their tanking rebuilding ways behind them. They’re winning a lot of games this season, and playing well above projections. The way that they’re winning is by walking, and walking a lot. They lead the Majors in walk percentage at 10.4%, led by big free agent acquisition, Carlos Santana. Now, just because they are getting all of those free base runners, it doesn’t mean that they’re exactly turning them into runs. They’re 18 th in baseball with a 93 team weighted runs created, 7 percent below average. While they’re still working on their situational hitting, it’s fun to watch a young team with a great eye for the strike zone. Biggest Surprise Knowing that their starting rotation needed an ace, the team brought in free agent, Jake Arrieta, during spring training. Little did they k...