MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Location: file:///C:/A87C2CF7/NLEAST1990PREVIEW.htm Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/html; charset="us-ascii" NATIONAL LEAGUE EAST PREVIEW

= NATIONAL LEAGUE EAST PREVIEW

 

Her= e's a quick preview of the 1990 National League East.  I'll give a quick rundown of each = team

and who I think will be contenders and who will be non contenders.  Won-Loss Record is a

projection using runs created for both the offense and pitching and applying them to the

Bill James Pythagorean theorem.  I did this after adjusting runs cr= eated for each team to 5500 AB's and 1450 innings pitched-the average for 1990 National League teams.

 

CLE= VELAND BUCKEYES(76-86)

Thi= s is a team with a lot of players who are good support players= (Roberto Kelly, Tom Brunansky,

Jos= e Oquendo, Terry Pendleton, Milt Thompson) or players n= ot in their prime years(Pedro Guerrero, Larry Walker).=   Darrin Daulto= n has a nice year and is a definite All-Star candidate at catcher.  But no one takes a star turn in '9= 0 that would be the centerpiece of the lineup and could drive this team into conte= ntion status.  Still, I think the projection is a little low and a good starting corps could move this team closer to a .500 record and up the standings.  Jim Deshaies, Todd Stottlemyre, Matt Young, Jack  Armstrong, Mark Gardner and = David Wells all have good years.  A = decent pen highlighted by Mark Williamson will give nice support to the starters.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'>  If they can st= ay close through July maybe pitching will drive them in divisional contention.

 

COL= ORADO GRIZZLIES(69-93)

Not= a bad offense, perhaps the second best in the division.  Jose Canseco<= /span> turns in a star year with 37 homers and 19 steals.  Two other youngsters turn in good seasons.  Catcher Craig Biggio

provides that rarity, speed at catcher, with a decent bat.  Rafael Palmie= ro jacks things up a little at

firstbase= as his power comes to the fore.  Jacoby, Samuel, Webster= and Sheets have double digit

homers, Dickie Thon holds down the keystone nicely and Shane Mack has a sweet 300 at bats.

The serious problems start with the starters.&= nbsp; Joe Magrane would be welcome on any staf= f in the league, but, LaPoint, Hawkins, Petry, Show and company will be hitting the showers e= arly quite often this year. The bullpen will help some, but, the three who turn = in good years, Rogers, Agosto and Righetti are all lefties.  No stud righthanders to balance a pen that will get a lot of work.  Keep your lefty killers= available for late duty when playing the Grizzlies.

 

GRO= SSE POINTE GIANTS(73-89)

Oh, wouldn't you love to have 1990 AL MVP Rickey Henderson in your lineup?  28 dings, .439 OBA  and 65 swipes.  Kent Hrbek, Dwight Evans and Bo Jackson will compliment him nicely, but Gaetti, Ray, Griffin and Wilson form a weak second half of the lineup that contrasts starkly with the top half or the order.&nb= sp; Not much help from the bench either for a lineup that needs the top = four for most of their run production.  Mike Scott doesn't dominate like in years past but is still a decent anchor for the rotation.  2 an= d 3 guys Bielecki and Jeff Robinson could get rough= ed up a bit but John Tudor and young Ben McDonald have 42 potential quality starts they can trot out.  The pen is= a good one led by Guetterman, Montgomery, Crawford with some help from Atlee Hamaker.  .500 would be a success for the Gi= ants.

 

KIT= SILANO HEDGEHOGS(78-84)

When Brett Butler is your best player and no player has more that 9 homers(part-timer Mark Salas leads the team with 9) th= en runs will be hard to come by.  And the dropoff from Butler to<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'>  big at= bat guys like Ozzie Smith, Gerald Perry and Phil Bradley is big.  Wally Backman= turns in a nice year but only has 315 at bats.  After him there are enough bonus and role players that fans will need a scorecard for each game= to track the shifting starting lineups thrown out this year.  What keeps this team afloat is the= best pitching staff in the division and one of the best in the league.  Mark Langston, Doug Drabek, John Burkett, Jimmy Key and Tim Belcher should be the envy of most managers= in the league.  They'll keep games close and hand it over to a decent pen headed by Jeff Brantley and Bryan Harvey.  Can pitching and spee= d win a pennant?  Stay tuned.

 

 

 

NIS= KAYANA MICROMETS(79-83)

The= MM's have a decent set of players but no guys in the = heart of the order to consistently pound

the fences and create runs.  Alvin Davis is the best of the bunch but only had 24 doubles and 17<= o:p>

longballs= and would be an excellent sup= port player on a contender.  Player= s like Sax, Caminiti,

Dev= on White, Sandy Alomar and De= vereaux don't have their top years and young stars like

Tartabull, Hal Morris and Brian McRae have their best years ahead.  The heart of this team= is

the rotation.  Smoltz, Ramon Martinez, Tapani, Smiley and even Dana Kiecker form an excellent<= o:p>

crew and need to keep things close since the pen is average at best.  Hernandez, Grant, Plesac,

Henneman, Patterson and Mills will have to = overperform for this team to climb over .500

 

RUP= PERT MUNDYS(93-69)

Sav= ing the best for last we come to one of the better teams in the league and a st= rong contender

for some late fall playing time.  Mark McGwire and Ry= ne Sandberg are the big bombers in the heart of the order and Mike Greenwell, Kevin McReynolds, Andy Van Slyke and Edgar Mart= inez all turn in star seasons and give promises of lots of runs lighting up the = Ruppert scoreboard.&= nbsp; They're supported by a decent cast of Owen, Vaughn, Howell, Valle and Leach.  Bob Welch, Scott Sande= rson Zane Smith, Greg Harris, Brian Holman and Danny Darwin are all good starters and will have to hold the fort deep into games to keep a so-so pen in the pen.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'>  But, with the offense and the star= ters clicking on all cylinders and the rest of the division not looking great, this team = may not have to worry about the pen until playoff time.