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Kruk’s NL East Prediction – Mets in Third
By J Platt on March 8th, 2008 10:15 AM |
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Yesterday, John Kruk and Karl Ravich were the commentators for ESPN’s Grapefruit League coverage of the Mets and the Indians, when Kruk announced his NL East predictions:
- Phillies
- Braves
- Mets
- Marlins
- Nationals
Did Kruk actually put the Mets in third place??? But what about that Santana guy?
Well that struck up a debate between he and Ravich that’s already hit YouTube. Ravish challenged Kruk, insinuating he has a homer, and how could he blatantly overlook the Mets; but without any Phillies bias, Kruk defended his picks:
Kruk: Karl, again, it’s their pitching. You know what you’ll get from (Johan) Santana, but you don’t know what you’ll get from Pedro (Martinez) yet. Can he give you 27-32 starts?
Ravich: He’s a 20 game winner this year, he said he’s back and he felt great today.
Kruk: Okay, well that was after two innings in the minor leagues. I hope he is, he’s a fun guy to watch pitch, but that remains to be seen. El Duque, getting older, if that’s possible. You saw Oliver Perez today, with the inconsistency that he brings in your rotation. Great stuff, but he hasn’t yet in my mind put it together where you can say this guy is a solid number two or number three starter.
Ravich: Well they look, on paper (whistle). On paper their team is great.
Kruk: They are…
Ravish: Their lineup is great… Their names are great.
Kruk: They are, but again injuries have played a big part. Moises Alou last year was injured, he’s a year older. Carlos Delgado was injured last year with the thumb injury, now he has the hip problem, so once you get a little older, these are problems that will get better, but they don’t ever go away. We’re going to see how that affects them through the season. The Phillies are younger. They’re basically a team that stays injury free as far as their everyday players.
Is there a little homer in Kruk? If it was Jayson Stark making these predictions I’d say yes, but Kruk isn’t one to side with the Phillies. Kruk pointed out some things Mets fans forgot about with the acquisition of Johan Santana. They still have a lot of question marks with their pitching staff and injuries are always worrisome with a veteran squad.
Do the Phillies and Braves have similar concerns? Without a doubt. There’s no team in the NL East that is the total package. From a fans perspective, if you’re a fan of the Phillies, Mets, or Braves, there’s going to be a ton of great baseball to watch this season.
There are currently 10 responses to “Kruk’s NL East Prediction – Mets in Third”
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Sorry Jay, I’ve got to disagree. If it’s not an anti-Mets bias, then it’s some sort of mental ailment. I’ll admit that Pedro is a question mark, however, even if you excise Pedro from the equation entirely, they’ve essentially swapped Tom Glavine for Johan Santana. Plus, as Kruk even points out himself, Alou was injured last year, Delgado was injured last year. It’s not like either of these guys carried the club. I’m more injured about Beltran’s knees, Reyes bouncing back from last September, etc. Those are factors that could actually have a factor on our team this year. How about the health status of Duaner Sanchez? Doesn’t that warrant a mention? But no, instead, when pressed on his picks, Kruk goes after the rotation? Is he joking?
What about Atlanta? Is Mike Hampton suddenly not a question mark? Is Tom Glavine suddenly not the bum the Mets kicked to the curb? Is Tim Hudson a given to pitch like he did two years ago? Smoltz is the only guy I trust completely on that staff, and he’s ancient as well. The logic just makes no sense.
I won’t go after the Phillies, because while I feel they’ve had to plug some holes in their lineup with utility/bench players, their core group is sick, and you can’t fault anyone for flipping a coin between them and the Mets.
Personally, I think Pedro, Santana, Reyes, and Wright are going to absolutely carry this team in the early going. But enough talk, let’s play some games that matter already!
I couldn’t agree more that the Phillies, Braves, and Mets all have some unknowns to worry about as the season progresses and that for fans of all three of these teams, it’s going to be a great season to watch. The NL East should provide some great baseball for us all this year.
I think it’s time to get Kruk off Baseball Tonight, and bring back Harold Reynolds!
I’m a Braves fan. I’m not afraid of the Phils at all really, the Mets should win the Division, like Ravich said, no team in the National League looks as good on PAPER… the Mets biggest problem? Chemistry and Beltran staying healthy enough to join Reyes and Wright. Doesn’t matter who is on the mound if those three are healthy and happy.
No mention of Johnny Maine in that discussion? NO ONE is counting on Perez to be a number 2 or 3 guy. Maine is ahead of Perez in the rotation so the only way he has to step up to 3 is if Pedro can’t go the entire season. Maine was close to the most consistent pitcher on the staff last year.
The only two real contender in the nl east are the phillies and braves. The mets may have johan santana but even with him their rotation is as good as the phillies or braves. The x-factor is comes down to offense. The phillies offense is clearly the best in the division and its far younger than the old men on the mets like alou and delgado. Their offense is even behind the braves who have some talented guys in johnson and escobar. The phillies will be the nl east champs this season. The final standings are
1. Phillies
2. Braves
3. Mets
4. Marlins
5. Nationals
The mets wont even make the playoffs. They are not over their collapse their just ignoring it. When they start losing and fall well behind in the division the emotions will come back and they will be blowing 9th inning leads to the marlins again with the season on the line!
Mets fans, listen up: On Baseball Tonight, there are so many so-called experts who are so anti-New York, it’s a joke: Kruk, Steve Phillips, the venerable Peter Gammons, and so on and so forth.
Who the [flip] cares what these mediocres say: Kruk is a [flip]ing steroid user- he’ll be [flip]ing dead in a couple of years. And Phillips? Of course this piece of [poop] continually picks against the Mets and continues to undermine the Mets. This is the same morally corrup mother[flip]er who was caught [flip]ing his secretary, given a second chance by the Wilpons then was fired for incompetence. He hates the Mets because he can’t get another GM job.
So Go Mets and [Flip] these assholes.
I am an anti brave but the braves have a better team than the mets. For u braves fans the only team i think u have to worry about is the Phillies with the psssible MVPs in their lineup which has the 2006 MVP Ryan Howard, last years MVP Jimmy Rollins, and also Chase Utley who is great, combined with Burrell. But in the end i think the braves will come out on top. With their 1-2-3 puch and more depth than any team in the NL east. Also with a great lineup if Chpper Jones stays healthy,Mark Texiera potential MVP, Francouer a growing star along with Yunel Escobar and one of the best catchers in the majors in Brian McCann.
We are a third of the way through the easeon and all i have to say to all you met fans. SHUT UP! Kruk was right and will contine to be right thruough the whole season. I believe the braves wll end up on top. They have to much talent in the lineup that can hurt you from 1 to 8. Also i am putting a prediction out that chipper jones will ht .400. Peace and go braves……..mets blow.
Talk about a Monday morning QB…