Pitchers and catchers reported to spring training earlier this week with position players getting ready to report to camp in the coming days. Spring training is coming at the perfect time with football season ending two weeks ago. To get ready for the 2016 baseball season I will give my predictions division by division week by week. To start, I’ll visit the National League East.

1. New York Mets:

2015 record: 90-72

2016 prediction: 93-69

The Mets won the division last season after the trade deadline acquisition of Yoenis Cespedes that turned the entire season around. They proceeded to ride the best young pitching staff in baseball all the way to World Series. The Mets did lose Daniel Murphy, a key piece to their postseason success, to free agency but brought in Neil Walker to replace him. All it took was Jon Niese, who didn’t have a spot in the rotation anyway. New York also bolstered their defense up the middle by adding veteran shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera.

The big move for the Mets this offseason was resigning Cespedes to a three-year $75 million contract with an opt-out after the first season. Cespedes makes the Mets a championship contender once again. His defense in center field isn’t the best, but the Mets hope his bat is strong enough to cancel that out. The rest of the Mets outfield rounds out with Michael Conforto in left field who’s expected to have a huge season after showing flashes during his rookie season and in the playoffs last year. Curtis Granderson will return to play right field after arguably being the team MVP last season.

What could be the biggest addition for the Mets could be a healthy return of captain David Wright. Wright only played in 38 games in 2015 and could never really get his bat going. Everyone knows at this point in his career Wright won’t be what he was from 2006-08, but a healthy Wright for as many games as they can get out of him will make a big difference.

The strong point of this team is still their brilliant young pitching staff. The staff arguably has three aces right now with Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard. The rotation is followed with lefty Steven Matz and the ageless Bartolo Colon, with Zack Wheeler set to come back from Tommy John surgery in June.

The pitching rotation carries the Mets to their second consecutive division title, the first time they will win consecutive division titles in franchise history, and will continue to carry them throughout the playoffs. The Mets are easily one of the favorites in the National League this season.

2. Washington Nationals:

2015 record: 83-79

2016 prediction: 88-74

The Washington Nationals were arguably the biggest disappointment in baseball last season. They were the favorite to run away with what should have been the easiest division to win in baseball and they barely finished above .500. The Nationals had what was supposed to be a strong pitching staff after the addition of Max Scherzer, but then disappointing seasons by Stephen Strasburg and now a member of the Detroit Tigers Jordan Zimmerman impeded the team's success.

Injuries ultimately doomed this team in 2015; the team never had their full opening day lineup together and reigning MVP Bryce Harper was the only player to ever get into a real groove offensively.

The season was such a disappointment manager Matt Williams was fired at the end of the year.

2016 should be an improved year for Washington after bringing in new manager Dusty Baker but the team ultimately didn’t make enough moves to catch the Mets. The roster looks very similar to last season with small additions of Ben Revere to replace Denard Span, and Daniel Murphy Nationals fans will soon realize Murphy is a liability defensively (see game four of the World Series).

3. Miami Marlins:

2015 record: 71-91

2016 prediction: 80-82

The Marlins are destined to forever hover around that .500 record. Last season they were plagued by injuries, mainly to star Giancarlo Stanton who missed 88 games. Dee Gordon is a stud at second base and the team is improving and new manager Don Mattingly should help a lot.

Pitching depth behind ace Jose Fernandez, whom the team was listening to offers for this offseason, is a concern.

The teams at the top of the division are just too good for the Marlins to catch and the roster just features too many young inexperienced players. The Marlins are still a couple of years away from making a real run. But maybe moving in the fences will help?

4. Atlanta Braves:

2015 record: 67-95

2016 prediction: 65-97

The Braves are in total rebuilding mode. They know it, the whole league knows and their fans know it. The Braves should be awful this season. It’s Freddie Freeman and the boys. It’s such a shame too, since Freeman should be entering his prime and is arguably the best first baseman in the National League. The Braves did bring in 2015 number one draft pick Dansby Swanson a shortstop from Vanderbilt. The Braves will be good in a few years but they’ll have to drudge through 2016 first.

5. Philadelphia Phillies

2015 record: 63-99

2016 prediction: 62-100

The Phillies are just as bad as the Braves, if not worse. At least, the Braves are building a strong farm system and looking to the future. The highlight of the Phillies season could be if they actually find someone to take Ryan Howard’s contract, it is expiring, though maybe they’ll get lucky?

The division looks like it will play out in the same order as last season but this also is the easiest division to predict in baseball.