NL East 2012: Why the Bullpens could decide the Division

The NL East in 2012 is as stacked in starting pitching as it ever has been. Across the board there are household names, Cy Young winners, Cy Young finalists, perennial All-Stars, No-Hitter throwers, Perfect Games, and the like. Just in the division alone there are names from top to bottom of rotations that could start anywhere. Names like Miami Marlins P’s Josh Johnson, Anibal Sanchez, Mark Buehrle, and the soon to be revived (hopefully!) former ace Carlos Zambrano. Then there are the Philadelphia Phillies, who are stacked with a World Series MVP, two Cy Young award winners and a man who threw two no hitters (a perfect game and a no-no on his playoff debut), the Atlanta Braves feature Jair Jurrjens, Tim Hudson, and young Tommy Hanson. The Washington Nationals feature P’s Jordan Zimmerman who is a real up and comer, and of course Steven Strausburg, who has had more hype than any minor league pitcher in quite some time. Even the lowly Mets have a decent front-end rotation ...