Atlanta Braves, New York Mets, or Philadelphia Phillies? Who has best NL East lineup?
In 2022, the National League East was a battle between three really good teams: the Atlanta Braves, New York Mets, and Philadelphia Phillies. The Braves and Mets both won more than 100 games and the Phillies (who were in third place) won the National League and got to Game 6 of the World Series.
The Miami Marlins have taken some steps to improve their team and the Washington Nationals are clearly in the basement of the division and in the basement of the National League.
The Braves, Mets, and Phillies are, largely, in the positions that they are entering the 2023 season due to the strong starting lineups.
Who has the best starting lineup in the NL East: The Braves, Mets, or Phillies?
As Call To The Pen’s Kevin Henry mentioned in this article about the NL East lineups (h/t Jays Journal‘s Eric Treuden), we are using FanGraphs Depth Charts 2023 projections as the determination for each of these players and teams. For the place in the lineups, we’ll also use Roster Resource (via FanGraphs).
As a reminder for wRC+, 100 is league average. The number is a percentage above or below league average.
Here’s what the Atlanta Braves’ lineup looks like entering the 2023 season.
- Acuña Jr., RF (139 wRC+)
- Harris II, CF (117)
- Riley, 3B (137)
- Olson, 1B (132)
- Murphy, C (116)
- Albies, 2B (113)
- Rosario, LF (88)
- Ozuna, DH (108)
- Grissom, SS (100)
- Team Average: 116.7
Note: ZiPS projects the Braves to be in first place in the NL East with a 94-68 record. With eight players at or above league average offensively, it’s easy to see why. The clear weak spot is Eddie Rosario in left field.