MLB: Two Huge Series in the NL

After this weekend we’ll certainly know a lot more about the National League.

In a league where no division is completely over, the National League East and the NL West are much too close to call right now. But this weekend will help decide a lot as in each division the first and second place teams will be battling it out.

In the NL East the first place New York Mets will play against second place Philadelphia. The Phillies trail the Mets by three games right now. So the Phillies better win this series. If they don’t then they’ll find themselves at least four games back with less than 20 games left to play. Of course, the Phillies made-up more ground then that last year. However, I don’t see a similar collapse this year.

But if the Phillies win the series then it’s “game on!” The Phillies will be two games back (or even if they can sweep) and that will put a lot of pressure on the Mets. They won’t be able to stop themselves from thinking about last year and that could spell trouble.

Meanwhile, the NL West doesn’t have a good team in the division (as I always point out) but the Los Angeles Dodgers have looked really good over the last week. They’re currently on a five game winning streak. And as they prepare, to host the first place Arizona Diamondbacks, the Dodgers are only one and a half games back. So they can take over first or be knocking on the door by the end of the weekend.

These are certainly two series to keep a very close eye on this weekend. They should be a lot of fun and both series will go a long way toward determining where the teams will end up in October.

My picks? I think the Mets win the series and continue on to win the NL East and I think the Dodgers win the series and take the West as well.