NL East

In their 49-year history, the New York Mets have had some success in developing minor league prospects. Though many of these players went on to play for other teams, the Mets still did their job of ensuring these players were as Major League-ready as possible.

Tom Seaver, Darryl Strawberry, Dwight Gooden, Jose Reyes and David Wright all were drafted by the team and made an immediate impact for the big club.

After all of the preseason hype, largely due to the return of Cliff Lee, the Philadelphia Phillies have come out red hot in early April like a fox escaping a forest fire.

The Phils' are off to a 7-2 start, capped off by 2-1 series win over the Atlanta Braves who are thought to be their main competition in the NL East.

The absence of Jayson Werth, Chase Utley and Brad Lidge from the Phillies left plenty of cause for concern at the beginning of the season.

Losing the team’s No. 3 and No. 5 hitters and the closer created a scenario where many hoped that the Phillies would be able to hang on until Utley and Lidge returned.

But instead of merely surviving, the Phillies, with a 7-2 record, are thriving.

Trips to Miami have been less than stellar for the Washington Nationals, and through the first two of a three-game set against the Marlins, nothing has changed.

The Nats blew leads on consecutive nights and were up against Florida ace Josh Johnson in the series finale. A Marlins' sweep looked about as likely as Pudge Rodriguez hitting into a double play.

Of all the series to start the season, I think Braves' second baseman Dan Uggla and new Manager Fredi Gonzalez probably looked for and circled this one first. Both had spent several years with the Florida Marlins before ending up in Atlanta this offseason.

The Phantastic Phour, R2C2, The Four Horsemen, The Foureign Legion...I could go on. The Philladelphia Phillies starting rotation of Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt, and Cole Hamels created massive amounts of speculation this winter—could they be the greatest rotation ever assembled?

So, after two turns each, have they lived up to the hype?

It's still early, but for the first time all season the Phillies finally saw some decent pitching.

The Phils took a quick 3-0 lead in Game One, but Cliff Lee struggled while Tim Hudson settled down.  Atlanta took the first game 6-3.

In Game Two, Carlos Ruiz came off the bench and contributed with a grand slam and five RBI en route to a 10-2 rout for Philly.

He’s not mentally tough. He stinks. He’s a prima donna. Those were just a few of things some Philadelphia fans were saying after Cole Hamels’ poor first outing against the New York Mets. The criticism is nothing new for Cole in Philly.

There is one word to describe the New York Mets bullpen this year: Ugly. Even when they have gotten through innings without giving up a run, they have frequently walked batters, gotten behind in most counts and have thrown more balls than strikes.

The Phillies are rolling to start the season. Dominant pitching and an offense that has hit more singles than any other team in baseball. Clearly their series against the Braves meant more to their hated rivals than it did to them, but it's always nice to let the few fans Atlanta has (and the national media) that their "sexy" pick for NL East champion was wrong.