Andy Capwell’s Baseball Predictions: National League

The 2015 baseball season starts Sunday night with the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals. I love baseball, on television, at the stadium and playing fantasy baseball. It's always fun to try and predict what's going to happen this season. Here's my look at the National League.

NL East:

1. Washington Nationals: They won 96 games last season and have added Max Scherzer to the rotation.

2. Miami Marlins: They have one of the best bats in Stanton. Jose Fernandez will return and the Marlins could be a wild card playoff contender.

3. New York Mets: The key is the health of Matt Harvey. He's got ace written all over him.Jacob deGrom is a good young pitcher as well.

4. Atlanta Braves: The pitching has been oft injured and they lost Jason Heyward from the lineup. Freddy Freeman leads the offense. They could finish higher.

5. Philadelphia Phillies: They lost Cliff Lee to injury, they have many aging pieces on offense. Cole Hamels is very good and I love the ballpark.

NL Central:

1. St. Louis Cardinals: They always seemed to be right at the top of the standings. The health of Adam Wainwright is the key.

2. Pittsburgh Pirates: They have one of the best players in Andrew McCutcheon. The pitching is decent enough for a playoff push.

3, Chicago Cubs: They are getting better. Rookie Kris Bryant will bolster the batting and they add ace pitcher Jon Lester.

4. Cincinnati Reds: If Joey Votto returns to form and their veterans can put together another good season they could contend.

5. Milwaukee Brewers: Ryan Braun should return to MVP form. The question is the pitching. Carlos Gomez is an exicing young player.

NL West:

1. Los Angeles Dodgers: NL Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw should win 20 games. The rest of the rotation is solid.

2. San Diego Padres: They were big winners in the off season. Look for a possible Padres playoff run.

3. San Francisco Giants: The defending World Series champions still have good pitching but the offense is a question mark. Don't count them out.

4. Colorado Rockies: I really like the bats but the pitching is always a question mark at Coors Field.

5. Arizona Diamondbacks: They have MVP candidate Paul Goldschmidt. The pitching is iffy.

I like the Nationals over the Dodgers in the NLCS.

I'll have my American League Predictions tomorrow.