I’m back to tackle the second half of The Hoosier Network’s two-part MLB preview, this time covering the entirety of the National League!
The back-to-back reigning World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers hail from the NL West, and in a division that forecasts to be competitive throughout the 2026 season, LA will look to stake its claim as the best team in Major League Baseball with another strong season.
But of course, the NL West is not the only division I will cover in this article, as there are two other entire divisions and ten other NL teams to discuss! Each of these teams is fighting to unseat the Dodgers from their throne, and while that task is easier said than done (especially given the current landscape of Major League Baseball), the task will be attempted nonetheless.
Buckle up, because it’s time to continue kicking the can of the impending 2027 lockout and the expiration of the Collective Bargaining Agreement further down the road and discuss the outline of the 2026 MLB season in the National League. And let’s jump right in with the…
National League East
Atlanta Braves
The Braves are one of those teams who have had a lot go wrong for them over the past several seasons. No matter what they do, something goes wrong and the team ends up paying the price for it, resulting in its fair share of disappointing years since the team won the 2021 World Series over the Houston Astros.
Last season was a bit of a mess, as Atlanta got off to a dreadful 0-7 start but then recovered somewhat in the month of May. However, almost directly afterwards, the Braves started skidding hard and never really recovered, and all of that resulted in a 76-86 season and a fourth-place finish in the NL East. Injuries played a large part in that, but the fact of the matter is that it was a disappointing season in the A.
Now, the Braves are healthier than they’ve been in a while and they are looking to cement their name among the contenders in the National League once again. Ronald Acuna Jr. is, as always, the headliner in right field. He’s not quite as good as he once was but he’s still a bonafide superstar. Ozzie Albies is a consistent presence at second base. Matt Olson’s power bat should be a factor once again in 2026, and he is coming off an excellent 29-homer, 96-RBI season last year.
The pitching rotation is a bit of a different story. While there is a lot of talent here, injuries have already started afflicting the staff. Spencer Strider has an oblique strain and will start the season on the injured list. Outside of Strider and a 36-year-old Chris Sale, there are some question marks here.
Regardless, the Braves will be looking to contend for a division title in 2026, and if everything lines up just right, that is certainly a strong possibility. Y’know, unless injuries devastate them again. Don’t exactly want to jinx that…
Prediction: 86-76
Philadelphia Phillies
The window is closing fast. The Phillies seem to know this, and they need to make these next couple of years count.
As long as Philadelphia has this core in place, it will be the same story as the past couple of seasons: the wins will come in the regular season, that is never much of a question. The question is if this core will be able to get it done when the games matter most. In other words, is a deep playoff run a real possibility with this core?
In the batting order, things are still largely the same. Kyle Schwarber will look to follow up his monster 56-homer 2025 campaign that very nearly won him the NL MVP award. Bryce Harper will still be doing his usual thing at first base. Trea Turner should provide some consistent production at shortstop. The only real change here is replacing the now-departed Harrison Bader with former Texas Ranger Adolis Garcia.
The pitching rotation, despite losing Ranger Suarez to the Red Sox, should still be a top rotation in the NL and one of the best in baseball. Zack Wheeler, Cristopher Sanchez, and Jesus Luzardo are three of the best starters in the NL. The only downside is that Wheeler is currently injured, but that’s a lot of production in a rotation.
But as always, the question stays the same: ever since the 2022 World Series run (and even too, the 2023 collapse in the NLCS), a deep postseason run has been largely elusive in Philadelphia. Is this the year that will change?
Prediction: 89-73
New York Mets
The Mets are operating with a sense of urgency, as their 2025 season was something out of a nightmare. Despite starting with a 45-24 record and looking like World Series contenders during the first half of the season, the Mets endured a shocking, appalling collapse over the back half of the season. Ultimately, New York finished 2025 with an 83-79 record and no postseason berth.
Now, the Mets have made some changes to their core and hope to avoid a repeat of last season’s freefall. Out is Pete Alonso, who could not agree to terms with New York on a new contract and is now a member of the Baltimore Orioles.
However, in come two massive new pieces: Bo Bichette and Luis Robert Jr. Bichette, the former Blue Jay, is coming off a 2025 season where he hit a ridiculous .311 and added 18 home runs along with 94 RBI. Robert Jr., meanwhile, did not have quite as good a year by his standards, as he hit just .223, but he added 14 homers and 53 RBI. A bit of a down year for him, but these were two outstanding signings by the Mets.
Elsewhere, the pitching rotation should be quite good once again. In his first full season as a Met, 24-year-old Nolan McLean had a fantastic year, posting a 2.06 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP. Freddy Peralta should also be doing his thing and is coming off a 2025 where he was fourth in ERA with a 2.70 mark.
The Mets should be both a contender in the NL East and a contender for the NL pennant, assuming things go according to plan. We saw what can happen when things don’t. Perhaps this is the year we find out what happens when things do.
Prediction: 91-71
Miami Marlins
The Marlins were one of baseball’s stranger teams in 2025, as they came out of the gates cold and it looked like Miami was going to finish just like everyone thought they would coming into the year.
And then they started winning games. And winning. And then they won some more. Ultimately, it wasn’t quite good enough to get them into the playoffs, as they finished with a 79-83 record. But it was a noted step up from their 100-loss 2024 campaign, and now-second-year manager Clayton McCullough is looking to take this team even further in 2026.
For the first time in quite a while, there is some legitimate talent on this team. Connor Norby had a solid 2025 season and hit eight home runs while racking up 34 RBIs. Kyle Stowers had great production in left field, as he hit .288 with 25 home runs and 73 RBIs.
The pitching rotation is a little bit less consistent, as Sandy Alcantara is still here, and when everything is clicking he is one of the best pitchers in the NL. However, when it’s not, things can go south pretty quickly. Eury Perez is decent, as is Max Meyer, but there are a few too many question marks here.
Regardless, the Marlins may not make the postseason this year, as they strike me as a team that is still a couple of years away from true contention. But they should be competitive in just about every series they play.
Prediction: 78-84
Washington Nationals
Perhaps I was a bit too kind to the Nationals in last year’s segment on them, as I said that while they were still a few years away, they were collecting a steady diet of talent, both in the batting order and in the pitching rotation.
Well, that didn’t exactly age all that well, as the Nats instead went 66-96 in 2025 and settled into the cellar in the NL East.
And it’s fair to wonder how much this Nationals team actually got better in the offseason. Their best pitcher, Mackenzie Gore, is gone, now a member of the Texas Rangers. And at this point, their most consistent arm in the rotation might be Miles Mikolas, which is…something.
CJ Abrams still looks like he is capable of being a potential face of the franchise, but he didn’t *quite* make the leap that many, including myself, were expecting out of him. Abrams hit .257 with 19 home runs and 60 RBIs, but the issue is that there just wasn’t much talent around him. James Wood had a great year and Luis Garcia Jr. looks like a solid piece, but other than that, there isn’t a whole lot here.
The Nationals have promise, but I think that some of us (ahem, myself) were a little bit too kind to them going into 2025. Sorry, Nats fans, but you guys still have a ways to go before you are truly competitive in the NL East again.
Prediction: 70-92
National League Central
Chicago Cubs
The North Siders are coming off an impressive 2025 where they went 92-70 and secured a spot in the postseason, defeating the San Diego Padres in the NL Wild Card Series before narrowly losing to the NL’s top seed, the Milwaukee Brewers, 3-2.
Now, the Cubbies are looking to build on that success in 2026. Losing Kyle Tucker to the Dodgers hurts, but they added a solid consolation prize in Alex Bregman. Bregman arrives from Boston and is coming off a 2025 season where he hit .273 with 18 home runs and 62 RBI. A solid season from a guy who seems to be a consistent presence in the field and at the plate.
And not to mention, Chicago has one of the best players in baseball in Pete Crow-Armstrong, who just inked a monster extension and is looking to cement his case as a perennial NL MVP candidate. Crow-Armstrong hit .247 with 31 home runs and 95 RBIs in 2025, which are all obviously excellent marks. His production did fall off a bit towards the back half of the season, but those are still superstar numbers.
The pitching rotation, like the hitting core, is solid. Matthew Boyd is coming off a season where he posted a 3.21 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP. Shota Imanaga didn’t perform quite as well as his outstanding rookie year, but he is looking to put up similar numbers to that campaign here in 2026. Cade Horton also is a great option as Chicago’s third starter, as he posted a 2.08 ERA last year.
There is a lot to like about this Cubs team, although I am curious to see how the loss of Tucker impacts them and what kind of production Bregman will bring to this batting order. When Bregman is healthy, he’s a very impactful player. The Cubs will be in the division race, but I’m not quite as certain they hit 90 wins again.
Prediction: 89-73
Cincinnati Reds
One of the premier free agents in Major League Baseball this past winter found his way to the Redlegs, as former Mariner Eugenio Suarez signed with Cincinnati on a one-year, $15 million contract.
Suarez was fifth in home runs and fourth in RBIs (49 and 118, respectively) last season following a midseason trade from the Diamondbacks to the Mariners, and he will be looking to put up similar numbers this year, this time as a member of the Reds.
Star shortstop Elly De La Cruz is coming off a season where he hit .264 with 22 home runs and 86 RBI. His strikeout issues still don’t seem to be going away anytime soon, but when he’s hitting the ball with discipline, he’s an electrifying player with the bat in his hands and on the basepaths.
The pitching rotation is solid but a little bit top-heavy. Nick Lodolo is injured, currently dealing with a finger issue and his status for Opening Day is up in the air. Andrew Abbott was one of the more underrated pitchers in the NL in 2025, as he posted a 2.87 ERA and is slotted as the Reds’ primary ace. But beyond that, there is not a ton of consistency.
Suarez should get this team a few more wins, but I am struggling a bit to see just how much better this team got outside of the Suarez signing. In a division that has the Cubs and Brewers fighting for the top spot, I’m simply not certain that they will be competitive enough to lock up a postseason berth. A Wild Card spot is this team’s best-case scenario in 2026. Will the Reds be better? It’s likely. But so will the other teams in the NL Central.
Prediction: 84-78
St. Louis Cardinals
The Cardinals are in a bit of a strange spot. They are coming off a 2025 season where they hovered around the middle of the NL Central and finished the year with a 78-84 record, an appropriately middle-of-the-pack record for a team that was, well, around middle-of-the-pack. There was some buzz about them as contenders in the middle of the season but then they began to skid and could never really recover.
This season, it just doesn’t seem that a whole lot has changed. The pitching rotation is somewhat questionable, as the Cardinals’ primary three starters (Matthew Liberatore, Michael McGreevy, and Dustin May) all posted ERAs above four last season. Miles Mikolas, who might have been the most consistent arm on the mound for St. Louis last year, is no longer a Cardinal. The hitting core is okay, but Lars Nootbar is working his way back from surgery to correct Hugland’s deformities.
Outside of that, there are a few solid pieces here but not much. Masyn Winn has shown a lot of promise at shortstop, and Alec Burleson had a very good 2025, where he hit .290 with 18 home runs and 69 RBIs. Nolan Gorman had a good season and is a consistent presence at third base.
Last season, the Cardinals had a decent start before tailing off, and they ended their year kind of just…there in the NL Central. This year, I expect more of the same. There just isn’t enough with this team that strikes legitimate fear into opponents.
Prediction: 77-85
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pirates have Paul Skenes on their roster. That sentence alone might be enough to end this section right now, but obviously there is more to discuss regarding this team.
Skenes is probably the best pitcher in baseball right now and he is the reigning NL Cy Young winner, but how far the Pirates will go this season depends on everyone else, both in the pitching rotation and in the batting order.
The Pirates are coming off a 2025 where they were at the bottom of the NL Central, going 71-91 and it never really felt like they even had a chance to make any noise in the division and in the NL playoff race. It was a similar story as the past few seasons, where Pittsburgh was looking up at everyone else.
Taking a look at this hitting core, there is not a whole lot to write home about. The Pirates are still waiting on 2021 No. 1 overall pick Henry Davis to break out at catcher. He has been respectable, but he has not had the kind of production Pittsburgh was expecting out of him. Bryan Reynolds had quite a good year last season and is probably the Pirates’ best and most consistent hitter. Oneil Cruz seems to alternate between flashes of excellent play and other flashes of incredible frustration, as he hit 20 homers last year but also barely reached a .200 batting average.
Ryan O’Hearn is another good piece, as he is coming off a 2025 season where he hit .281 along with 17 home runs and 63 RBIs. And of course, the Pirates are waiting on wunderkind top prospect Konnor Griffin to get his first taste of Major League Baseball. There are several good pieces on this roster, but as has been the case with several other teams in the NL, the consistency is not really all there yet.
And as long as that’s the case, the Pirates will not be able to reach their full potential. They simply are not there yet. More moves need to be made. And with this current iteration of the club, it could very well be yet another long season in Pittsburgh.
Prediction: 72-90
Milwaukee Brewers
The Brewers had a spectacular regular season in 2025, as they nabbed the top seed in the NL and won 97 games, running away with the NL Central and destroying most of their competition along the way.
And then, October came calling. And of course, in typical Brewers fashion, it all came crashing down, as Milwaukee was thoroughly dismantled by the eventual World Series champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers, in the NLCS.
Now, the Brewers are looking to just wipe all that egg off their face and rebound and reload for 2026. There is an excellent balance of young and veteran talent in the hitting core and there is also a lot to like in the pitching rotation. Milwaukee is a very balanced team, and that usually bodes well for contending play deep into the season.
Christian Yelich will still be doing his thing, as he is coming off a 29-homer, 103-RBI season. 25-year-old right fielder Sal Frelick looks like a stud and one of the best young outfielders in baseball. Same goes for Jackson Chourio in center, who hit .270 with 21 home runs and 78 RBIs last year. The 22-year-old looks like he could be a potential face of the franchise and one of the best hitters in the NL.
The pitching rotation is still solid, and that is what the Brewers’ calling card has been over the past several seasons. Brandon Woodruff is still here and he will still be doing his thing. Quinn Priester posted a ridiculously good 13-3 record and had a 3.32 ERA last year. And who would I be to forget the play of Jacob Misorowski, who looked quite good in his somewhat limited action last season, and All-Star controversy aside, he should be one of Milwaukee’s best pitchers in 2026.
There is so much to like with this iteration of the Brewers, but they are in a similar boat as the Phillies in that we know the regular season wins will come. The real question is if they are truly capable of making a deep run in October. The Brewers fancy themselves as World Series contenders, and I understand that their league has a certain back-to-back defending World Series champion in it, but Milwaukee has to make their chances count while they still have them.
Prediction: 91-71
National League West
Los Angeles Dodgers
Alright, let’s just get this one out of the way right now.
There isn’t anything that I can even say about the Dodgers that hasn’t already been said. They have the best baseball player in the world on their roster in Shohei Ohtani. They have what is likely the NL’s best hitting core. They have what is likely the NL’s best pitching rotation. From an orchestration standpoint, they possess one of the best rosters ever assembled.
Oh, and did I mention that they signed Kyle Tucker this winter? Tucker departs the Cubs and lands in the bright lights of LA. Add on yet another uber-talented hitter to a lineup chock-full of them. Again, these are all things that everyone knows, I’m not exactly inventing the wheel or anything here.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Blake Snell are this team’s two best aces on the mound. Add in arms like Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow, and Emmet Sheehan. The bullpen features names such as Tanner Scott, Alex Vesla, Roki Sasaki, Jack Dreyer, the list goes on and on…
Again, there is nothing I can say about the Dodgers that has not already been said. They are the best team in baseball by a country mile, and all the money they’ve dished out to construct this current iteration of the team is one of the key reasons that baseball might not get played at all in 2027 (thanks, increasingly inevitable lockout. Remember when I mentioned that at the very beginning?).
The Dodgers are probably going to win the World Series again, and they might very well do it with one of the greatest rosters ever constructed in the history of Major League Baseball…on paper.
Prediction: 102-60
San Francisco Giants
The Giants are an interesting squad. Last season, they finished short of their expectations despite a solid start, and they ended 2025 with an 81-81 record, perfectly pedestrian. What do the kids say these days, mid?
Yeah, that’s what the Giants were last year. And going into this season, I am wondering how much has changed here.
This year, the ship is steered by Tony Vitello, who arrives after engineering sustained success at the University of Tennessee. That being said…the transition from managing in college to managing an MLB team is, well, daunting. Bringing over Luis Arraez from cross-state rival San Diego was a nice pickup, and he should bring another consistent bat over to the Giants, despite the fact that he may not be *quite* as good as he once was and isn’t a big power threat. Nabbing Harrison Bader from Philadelphia was also a good signing. He will be a good glove in the outfield and generally hit pretty well following the Phillies’ acquisition of him from Minnesota at last season’s trade deadline.
Willy Adames is coming off a 30-homer season and should be a consistent glove out at shortstop. Matt Chapman hit 21 home runs last year and should be doing his thing at third base, and ditto for Jung Hoo Lee in right field. Rafael Devers is looking to take a step forward in his first full season in San Francisco following the Giants’ acquisition of him from the Red Sox in the middle of last year.
The rotation is good, as Logan Webb and Robbie Ray are the two primary aces on the mound, and Tyler Mahle had an excellent season last year and Adrian Houser is quite a solid fourth starter. The staff could very well be as good as anyone in the NL (except, well, maybe the Dodgers).
The Giants will be competitive, and it would not shock me whatsoever to see them improve on their 81-81 mark from last season. But in a division that is this competitive, the playoffs, while they are a possibility, remain more unlikely than likely for this team.
Prediction: 83-79
San Diego Padres
Ah, the Padres. Almost eternally playing little brother to the Dodgers, but they have been keen on erasing that label for several years now.
The problem is that it hasn’t really come close to happening. The Padres have had extended success, but they have not beaten the Dodgers in the playoffs nor have they reached a World Series.
They are looking to make that happen this season, and they are coming off a season where they won 90 games and finished second in the division, only to lose in frustrating fashion to the Cubs in the NL Wild Card Series. The Padres will now be helmed by first-year manager Craig Stammen, and they are looking to not only make the playoffs but go on a run deeper than a first-round playoff exit.
The usual stars are still here in the batting order, like Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado, and Jake Cronenworth. Losing Luis Arraez is annoying but they seem to be cool with just dealing with it, as the pickups of Nick Castellanos and Gavin Sheets prove. Losing Robert Suarez to Atlanta is also a bit of a blow, but Mason Miller is still here and should still be absolutely dealing. So that’s always good.
Joe Musgrove is returning from Tommy John, and San Diego is putting a lot of faith in him to pick up where he left off before the surgery. Nick Pivetta and Michael King, at least for right now, are two of the premier aces for the Padres, and they are both coming off excellent seasons. The rest of the pitching depth is a bit of a question mark, so that is worth monitoring throughout the season.
The Padres should flirt with the 90-win mark, but similar to a couple of other teams in this league, the wins in the regular season are the expectation, not necessarily the ultimate goal. Is this team equipped to go on a deep run when the postseason rolls around?
Prediction: 87-75
Arizona Diamondbacks
The Diamondbacks are also quite an interesting team to gauge heading into 2026. In a division that should be wildly competitive, Arizona is looking to bounce back from an incredibly disappointing 2025 where they went 80-82 and missed the playoffs.
In the batting order, most of the usual suspects remain. When everything is clicking, Corbin Carroll is a top-ten player in baseball and is the D-Backs’ face of the franchise. Ketel Marte is a constant at second base. Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Pavin Smith, and Gabriel Moreno are still around. Geraldo Perdomo, who somehow finished fourth in NL MVP voting last season (what?!) is looking to follow up his monster season.
Yeah, that’s not the problem here. The problem is the pitching staff. And the unbelievable amount of uncertainty that surrounds it.
The rotation completely tanked this team’s chances at a deep postseason run, or a playoff berth to begin with. Corbin Burnes was a disappointment following his signing of a six-year, $210 million contract and is returning from Tommy John surgery. Zac Gallen also had a bit of a down year. Merrill Kelly is back in Arizona after the team traded him to the Rangers at the 2025 trade deadline.
But most of those guys are out to start the season, including Burnes and Kelly. Outside of that, their rotation consists of Gallen and guys like Ryne Nelson, Eduardo Rodriguez, and Michael Soroka. Not the worst, but you can do better.
The Diamondbacks worked to try and patch up the pitching rotation after they saw how it basically wasted an explosive offense. The question still remains though, as to whether or not they did enough.
Prediction: 82-80
Colorado Rockies
Again, let’s just get this one out of the way right now.
The Rockies will be bad in 2026. They will be very, very bad in 2026, just like they were very, very bad in 2025. They are coming off an absolutely dreadful season where they once again finished in the cellar of the NL West. The Rockies won just 43 games, and got off to a historically awful 8-42 start before rebounding (if you can even call it that) to finish 43-119.
They had a -424 run differential in 2025, which was good for the worst in modern MLB history and the worst run differential since the 1899 Cleveland Spiders. Yeah, we just went that far back in time.
The Rockies will *probably* not be quite that bad again this season, but make no mistake: this team will be the worst in the NL and most likely the worst in baseball. Colorado is anxious to see 2023 No. 9 overall pick Chase Dollander undertake his first full season in the big leagues. The righty showed promise last year, and they are looking for more production from him this season.
The rest of the team shows flashes, but there isn’t really a solid nucleus that has formed yet. Catcher Hunter Goodman had a great season last year and was voted to the All-Star Game (and deservedly so), and guys like Brenton Doyle, Ezequiel Tovar, Mickey Moniak, and Jake McCarthy to take leaps and show some promise in the hitting department.
The rotation is a little better than it has been in previous years, but it’s still not great. Victor Vodnik is a stud when things are clicking, and Michael Lorenzen could be an interesting pickup from Kansas City. Kyle Freeland is currently this team’s primary ace, and he is coming off a 2025 where he nearly hit a 5.00 ERA mark. Not ideal.
Again, don’t get me wrong: I am predicting that this team is going to be very, very, very bad in 2026. I want the Rockies to get back to winning as much as anyone, but this season is not going to be that year. New president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta, who comes over from the NFL and is back in baseball, has his work cut out for him with this squad. It’s going to be another long, painful season in the Mile High City. And somehow, Coors Field will be nearly full every single game!
Prediction: 59-103
