In Part Two of their in-depth MLB preview, Jake, Keaton, and Bob examine each National League team individually.

Greetings and welcome back to episode 309 of The Red Seat Podcast. In their second installment of their team-by-team MLB preview, Jake Devereaux, Keaton DeRocher, and Bob Osgood examine the National League this week. They walked around the American League in Part One, which you can listen to here.

Following a quick update on Lucas Giolito’s injury, we looked at the Braves and the Phillies to begin our preview of the National League East. The Phillies have won the playoffs the last two years, thus they are the division’s strongest team. Can the Marlins ride on Eury Perez’s arm and duplicate their success from last year? Despite having a huge salary, the Mets only managed to win 75 games in 2017 and have a weak pitching staff. When will the Nationals call up their star prospects and join the young movement?

This division searches the Central for a pitching staff deserving of our commendation. The Brewers won this division by nine games the previous season, but they traded Corbin Burnes, lost manager Craig Counsell to a rival team, and will be without closer Devin Williams for the first half of the current  campaign. The Cubs’ rotation is questionable, but they just missed out on the postseason. The Reds are among the top three MLB TV entertainment teams, but will their youthful pitching be able to perform? The Pirates are likely a year away from their premier prospects finding their game, while the Cardinals added Sonny Grey and not much else to a 71-win squad.

The Dodgers have the most wins in baseball and are the clear favourite to win the championship out west. Are they constructed for October at last?The Diamondbacks, who took home the pennant a year ago, will need to surpass their 84-win total in order to make a run at the postseason. Luckily, they have a group of young, developing bats and arms. With the signing of Dylan Cease and the hiring of Mike Shildt as manager, the Padres may have the best clubhouse combo this season. They made more major trades than any other baseball team. The Giants aim to have Kyle Harrison, the finest rookie pitcher in baseball, although their roster may not look impressive at first glance. They added Jorge Soler and Jung Hoo Lee in a stealthy manner. And the Rockies, well, they ought to be awful once more.