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2025 MLB Division Previews: National League East

Who will win what should be an exciting three-horse race? Here’s our predicted record for each team, along with best- and worst-case scenarios.

Will Laws

MLB Preview: NL East
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The NL East is the only division to produce three playoff teams every year since the field expanded to 12 teams in 2022. And it’s easy to imagine that streak will continue. The Phillies, the Braves and the Mets all enter this season with the most plausible World Series aspirations in the National League this side of L.A.

The Mets have been targeting 2025 as a breakout season for a couple of years now, so their NLCS appearance came ahead of schedule. The signing of Juan Soto will obviously boost their offense, but the effectiveness of the rotation, which had a stellar 3.46 ERA after the All-Star break, will determine their ceiling.

New York will have to knock off the Phillies, who won their first division title since 2011. The team sent a franchise-record eight players to the All-Star Game last season. But the club’s core is comprised mostly of players in their 30s and runs the risk of going stale soon.

The Braves, who had a six-year run atop the division end last season, still possess an enviable group of position players. But the pitching staff that led the majors with a 3.49 ERA is likely to regress after losing starters Max Fried and Charlie Morton in free agency.

The Nationals leaned into small ball last year, leading MLB with 223 stolen bases and ranking last in the NL with 135 homers. The result: just 660 runs, second-worst in the league. Still, outfielder James Wood, and top prospect Dylan Crews have the potential to add much-needed pop to the Nats’ attack.

The Marlins are one of three teams given a 0% chance to make the postseason by Baseball Prospectus’s PECOTA projection system, and while cruel, it seems accurate. Miami, which had the NL’s lowest-scoring offense for the third year running and employed 45 different pitchers, is clearly in tank mode.

New York Mets right fielder Juan Soto (22) follows through on his swing during a game against the Miami Marlins.
Soto seeks to reinvigorate the Mets after spending last season with the crosstown Yankees. / Rhona Wise-Imagn Images

1. New York Mets (94–68)

Best case: RF Juan Soto’s arrival in Queens has the same effect it did in the Bronx, except the Mets take it a step further and win the World Series. LeBron attends and sports a Mets hat.

Worst case: After a strong 2024, Sean Manaea’s ERA balloons to previous levels, and question-mark pitchers Kodai Senga, Frankie Montas and Clay Holmes struggle as well.

2. Philadelphia Phillies (92–70)

Best case: The rotation, which sent three players to the All-Star Game last year, repeats its magic, while 1B Bryce Harper wins his third MVP and, finally, his first championship. 

Worst case: Cy Young runner-up Zack Wheeler shows his age (35), while SS Trea Turner loses a step in the third season of his 11-year deal. The Phillies crash out in the wild card.

3. Atlanta Braves (88–74)

Best case: RF Ronald Acuña Jr. and SP Spencer Strider bounce back from injury, and 1B Matt Olson returns to his ’23 level of production (when he hit 54 homers).

Worst case: SPs Chris Sale, Reynaldo López and Spencer Schwellenbach all regress after fantastic Atlanta debuts in 2024, leaving the rotation unequipped for a playoff push.

4. Washington Nationals (73–89)

Best case: LF James Wood makes the leap to All-Star, RF Dylan Crews is named NL Rookie of the Year and Washington earns its first winning season since the 2019 title campaign. 

Worst case: None of the starting pitchers distinguish themselves as being anything more than serviceable as the Nats fail to match their 71-win mark from the last two seasons.

5. Miami Marlins (55–107)

Best case: Former Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantara brings in a haul at the trade deadline and OF Griffin Conine, son of Jeff “Mr. Marlin” Conine, helps fans remember better days.

Worst case: Alcantara looks like a shell of himself in his return from Tommy John surgery. The Marlins threaten the record for losses in a season (121) set by the White Sox in 2024.

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Will Laws
WILL LAWS

Will Laws is a programming editor who frequently writes about baseball for Sports Illustrated. He has covered MLB since 2014 and, prior to joining the SI staff in February 2020, previously worked for Yahoo, Graphiq, MLB.com and the Raleigh News & Observer. His work also has appeared on Yahoo Sports, NBA.com and AOL. Laws has a bachelor's in print and digital journalism from the University of Southern California.

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