Atlanta Braves: (4-6; -5)

The Braves lost two of there to the Boston Red Sox, and now begin a three game home series against the Philadelphia Phillies. Lowe vs. Blanton on Tuesday. Also, outfielder Jordan Schafer might be drawing interest from the Washington Nationals, but we’ll get back to that.

Florida Marlins: (6-4;-3)

Interestingly enough, the Marlins are the only NL East team above .500 in their last 10 games. They were, however, swept by their geographic rival, Tampa Bay. The Marlins sent their closer Matt Lindstrom and set-up man Kiko Calero to the DL, and have inquired about the availability of Heath Bell (San Diego, 20 sv) and Joakim Soria (Kansas City, 10.2 K/9). None are on the block, so the Marlins will be looking for relief help. The Marlins open a series at home with the Washington Nationals.

If we didn’t trade Eddie Kunz to the AL for Mark DeRosa, I doubt we’d trade him in the division for Cantu.

Philadelphia Phillies: (3-7; Leader)

The Phillies got some measure of revenge against the Toronto Blue jays, taking two of three in Toronto. The Phillies open a series with the Atlanta Braves. They continue to look for a starting pitcher, but are hesitant to trade Happ, Bastardo, Carrasco, or Drabek. Ibanez is due back next week.

Washington Nationals: (5-5; -17)

The Nationals lost two of three to their geographic rival Baltimore Orioles. The Nationals are a definite seller, and are frustrated with their outfield. Recently, they offered Lastings Milledge straight up to the Pirates for Nyjer Morgan, but the Pirates turned it down. Wow, how far Milledge’s value has fallen. Since then, they’ve asked about Schafer of the Braves, but it would take a lot more. The Braves are looking for offense, so Dunn is a possibility, but he’s affordable so the Nationals may not want to give him up. The Nationals lead the Bryce Harper sweepstakes by 6.5 over the D-Backs.

Weekly Stat:

Among starting pitchers, Javier Vasquez of the Braves leads the Majors with 7.96 Strikeouts per 100 pitches (K/100P).

Johan Santana is 6th with 6.85 K/100P. Cole Hamels is 13th with 5.93, Zordan Zimmermann is 14th with 5.90 (though he’s thrown less pitches than the others), and Josh Johnson is 19th, with 5.62.

Other notable Mets are Livan Hernandez with 3.58, Mike Pelfrey with 2.67, and John Maine with 3.94.

Till Next Time