The Morning Meeting: Everybody's Finally in the Win Column, But Can Anyone Catch Atlanta?

The National League East had a good weekend, for the most part, with every team winning at least once

Atlanta Braves left fielder Jarred Kelenic celebrates after hitting a game-tying double in the 9th inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks. / Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

A wild weekend of baseball in the National League East, with the Miami Marlins finally getting off the skid and the Atlanta Braves fighting through awful rotation news to sweep the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Let's look at what each team did over the weekend, where they currently stand in the division as of this morning, and what today's game has in store. It's The Morning Meeting!

Who is winning the National League East right now?

(divisional standings as of April 8th)
Braves - 6-2 (.750), -- GB, +26 run diff
Phillies - 4-5 (.444), 2.5 GB, -8 run diff
Mets - 3-6 (.333), 3.5 GB, -13 run diff
Nationals - 3-6 (.333), 3.5 GB, -17 run diff
Marlins - 1-9 (.100), 6.0 GB, -25 run diff

Everybody’s in the win column! Miami’s blowout of the St. Louis Cardinals in game three of that series not only broke their 0-9 start to the season but also helped their run differential, improving it to 'only' minus-25 runs. The Mets also enter a tie with the Nationals for third place, while Philly’s one game away from being .500 and steadily improving their run differential after that opening Braves series. 

Game recaps from the weekend

Atlanta Braves

The Braves swept the defending NL-champion Arizona Diamondbacks despite Spencer Strider’s last outing for a while (UCL damage, likely heading for a 2nd career Tommy John) and Max Fried’s awful first inning (six runs allowed). This offense continues to be a juggernaut, with a quartet of Braves having an OPS over 1000 in Matt Olson (1.106), Marcell Ozuna (1.048), Michael Harris II (1.056), and the offensive leader we all expected, Jarred Kelenic (1.356). 

Seriously, this team feels unstoppable right now if this offense keeps performing, even if Fried doesn’t get right. Chris Sale dominating on Sunday's a good omen, if he can still healthy.

Philadelphia Phillies & Washington Nationals

Philly won the first two games of the series (4-0, 5-2) only for Washington to take the finale (3-2). For the Phillies, the pitching was strong, with starters Aaron Nola and Ranger Suárez handling their business and the bullpen keeping Washington off the board. The Nationals offense struggled mightily in the first two games, getting only six total hits and two runs across Friday and Saturday before getting to Christopher Sanchez on Sunday. Mackenzie Gore did enough to win on Sunday, pitching 5.2 innings of two run ball, but Washington’s going to need more from the offense if they want to have a decent season.  

New York Mets

The Mets went into Great American Ball Park and took two out of three from Cincinnati, but there’s still an offensive problem in the Bronx. A multi-hit game on Sunday notwithstanding, Francisco Lindor is rocking a team-worst .083 batting average (3-36), with Brandon Nimmo (.103), Jeff McNeil (.115), and Pete Alonso (.184) right behind him. Given the Senga and Megill injuries, we knew there’d be rotation issues, but the offense also slumping is a big contributor to this 3-6 start and New York needs to get right in a hurry, as they’re in Atlanta to take on the Braves for four games starting this evening.  

Miami Marlins

The Miami Marlins won a game! They broke their 0-9 streak with a Sunday blowout over the Cardinals, winning 10-3. But one win doesn’t erase the negatives from the start - Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s hitting only .206, while Luis Arraez started slow (although he’s up to .268) and the defense hasn’t been good at all. Jake Burger’s raking, though - he’s batting .308 and hit two homers this weekend - and the embattled rotation’s getting that much closer to getting reinforcements after Braxton Garrett and Edward Cabrera both made rehab starts over the weekend in AAA.  

MVP's for Wednesday

Hitter: Atlanta’s Marcell Ozuna - 6-13, HR, 2 2B, 3R, 5 RBIs
Pitcher: Miami’s Max Meyer - 1-0 (First career win!), 6.0 IP, 3H, 1R, 1 BBs to 3 Ks 

Who's playing today?

Everybody’s back in action tonight to kick off a new series, with four total games given a divisional matchup:

Miami (Luzardo) @ NYY - 5:10 PM ET
New York (Teheran) @ Atlanta (Morton) - 7:20 PM ET
Philly (Turnbull) @ STL (Mikolas) - 7:45 PM ET
Washington (Williams) @ SFG (Snell) - 9:45 PM ET

Enjoy the games, everyone.