The Morning Meeting: Is Atlanta Already Running Away With the NL East?

It was not a good opening weekend for most of the National League East

The Atlanta Braves celebrate after taking the second game of the series against the Philadelphia Phillies / Kyle Ross-USA TODAY Sports

The Atlanta Braves have won the NL East in each of the past six seasons.

And after the season's first weekend of games, they're once again standing alone at the top of the division.

After a poor weekend for most of the teams in the division, Atlanta's once again leading the NL East by virtue of being the only team with a winning record across the first series of the season. Let's look at what each team did last weekend, where they currently stand in the division after the first weekend, and what their next series has in store.

Braves - 2-1 (.667), -- GB, +13 run differential
Phillies - 1-2 (.333), 1.0 GB, -13 run differential
Nationals - 1-2 (.333), 1.0 GB, - 6 run differential
Mets - 0-3 (.000), 2.0 GB, - 6 run differential
Marlins - 0-4 (.000), 2.5 GB, -14 run differential

Team	Record	Win%	GB	Run Diff	Next Game
Braves	2-1	.667	--	+13	4/1 @ CWS
Phillies	1-2	.333	1.0	-13	4/1 vs CIN
Nationals	1-2	.333	1.0	-6	4/1 vs PIT
Mets	0-3	.000	2.0	-6	4/1 vs DET
Marlins	0-4	.000	2.5	-14	4/1 vs LAA

Weekend Recap

Atlanta Braves

Atlanta went into Philadelphia and exorcised some demons, absolutely blasting Philly pitching in the first two games before losing a closely-fought contest on Sunday afternoon. The Braves both did it against Philly starters, tagging Aaron Nola for seven runs, and against Philly's bullpen, scoring nine runs in two innings on Friday.

Now, Atlanta's not unbeatable - they lost Sunday's game and also Sean Murphy (oblique) for several weeks, but they're clearly the class of the East once again.

Philadelphia Phillies

It's incredibly early, but Philadelphia needs to get some of their stars going this week. Bryce Harper, who took Sunday off as a "planned maintenance day" after tumbling over the dugout railing on Saturday, is hitless in eight plate appearances, while infielders Trea Turner and Alex Bohm have combined for only three hits in twenty-four plate appearances. Philly's twelve runs and twenty-two hits for the series place them 14th out of 15 NL teams while their twenty-eight strikeouts are 5th-most in the NL. The hope is that they can get off the skid against a tough Reds team in Citizens Bank Park starting today.

Washington Nationals

Several of the new bats showed up against the Reds, pushing Washington to one win and staking them to another lead entering the 9th inning in a game Cincinnati eventually walked off thanks to back-to-back homers in the 9th.

Jesse Winker was 5-11 with a run over the weekend, while former Braves leftfielder Eddie Rosario (playing centerfield!) chipped in a homer, a double, and three RBIs. Prospect Trey Lipscomb, called up after the injury to Nick Senzel, went 3-7 over the weekend with a homer and a stolen base.

Washington hosts Pittsburgh this week, a team that might be good or might have played a bad opponent in their opening series - more on that in a minute.

New York Mets

When discussing the possibility of trading Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander last season, team officials reportedly told Scherzer that the organization was eyeing 2025 as the earliest contention window.

Last weekend did nothing to disprove that assessment, as the Mets were swept by the Milwaukee Brewers at home. The pitching was fine but not great, as reclamation project Luis Severino was blasted for six runs on twelve hits in just five innings, but Jose Quintana (2 runs in 4.2 innings) and Tylor Megill (2 runs, 1 earned, in 4.0 innings) acquitted themselves somewhat okay but just couldn't give New York the length needed to stay competitive on the weekend.

Offensively, wunderkind catcher Francisco Alvarez was the most impressive Mets hitter of the weekend, going 5-10 with a homer, a double, and two RBIs, while Pete Alonso kicked his walk year off in style by going 4-11 with a homer and Brett Baty drove in three thanks to a well-timed pinch-hit bomb in game two.

Miami Marlins

Woof. Miami showed that they've not addressed any of the weaknesses from last year's squad and also don't have the same strengths as last year in their opening four game series against the Pirates.

For a team that finished below-average in homer production on the 2023 season, they hit only three longballs in the four games...but none of them were able to turn the tide and get them into the win column, as they were swept in all four games.

And last season, Miami was 33-14 in one-run games and 7-3 in extra innings. Miami did push two of this weekend's games into extras, playing four total extra innings, but never could get in the win column against Pittsburgh.

What's worse, the extra innings and the pre-existing rotation injuries exposed the weakness of the team's pitching staff, historically a strength for the franchise. They had to make a roster move for another pitcher prior to Sunday's series finale, promptly throwing newly called-up Vladimir Gutierrez three innings and still being forced to use their closer for the 10th as he was the only arm with less than 35 pitches across the previous three days.

On the weekend, Miami put up a 6.08 ERA and saw only one starter, Opening Day's Jesus Luzardo, leave with the possibility of getting a win after going five innings with two runs on two hits, walking two and striking out eight.

MVP's for the weekend

Hitter: Atlanta's Ozzie Albies - 5-13, 2 HR, 6 RBIs, 1 SB
Pitcher: Philly's Zach Wheeler - 6.0 IP, 5H, 0R/ER, 0 BB, 5 Ks

Who's playing today?

The entire division's back in action today, with everyone playing at home except Atlanta.

Atlanta (Morton) @ CWS (Flexen), 2:10 PM
Washington (Gore) vs PIT (Gonzales), 4:05 PM
Philadelphia (Sánchez) vs CIN (Abbott), 6:40 PM
Miami (Meyer) vs LAA (Silseth), 6:40 PM
New York (Manaea) vs DET (Olson), 7:10 PM

Team		Opponent		Time
Atlanta	Morton	@ CWS	Flexen	2:10 PM
Washington	Gore	vs PIT	Gonzales	4:05 PM
Philadelphia	Sánchez	vs CIN	Abbott	6:40 PM
Miami	Meyer	vs LAA	Silseth	6:40 PM
New York	Manaea	vs DET	Olson	7:10 PM

Enjoy the games, everyone.