Analyzing June’s NL East market movement on SimBull

Fast approaching the midpoint of the 2021 MLB regular season, the National League East remains a jumbled division. The Mets have been in the pole position for most of the first half, but the Braves, Marlins, Nationals and Phillies aren’t ready to let go of the rope yet.

MLB.com

Which NL East team(s) do you believe have the potential to be consistently great moving forward? That’s where SimBull comes in—knowledgeable fans can invest in any of them now and profit from their results on the field. Create your SimBull account to trade for yourself. Enter promo code FISHSTRIPES when making your first deposit for a $10 bonus.

How is the SimMLB market reacting to what we’ve seen so far?

SimBraves

Current Price: $35.30

The three-time defending NL East champs still have not spent a single day of this season above the .500 mark. Ronald Acuña Jr. is their lone player who’s producing at a legitimate All-Star-caliber level (although Ozzie Albies has found his groove recently to approach that threshold).

There’s still a scenario which sees them make it back to October. The prerequisites are getting starting catcher Travis d’Arnaud and breakout starting pitcher Huascar Ynoa fully recovered from their respective injuries and using some prospect capital to trade for impactful veteran role players.

If there was ever a time for the Braves to find some consistency, it would be during their final three series before the All-Star break (two vs. the Marlins, one vs. the Pirates). Use that stretch of games to guide your SimBraves buy/sell decisions.

SimMarlins

Current Price: $28.83

As discussed here, this share price is likely to continue declining as reality sinks in that 2021 is not Miami’s year.

Although the multi-year outlook is still promising, it’s time for short-term SimMarlins investors to cut bait. Don’t be greedy! If you got your shares early, they’ve made you a huge profit already.

SimMets

Current Price: $35.99

Francisco Lindor, Jeff McNeil, Dominic Smith and Michael Conforto—all seemingly in the primes of their careers...and all OPS-ing below .700?! It doesn’t make sense. Mets position players as a whole have been victimized by plain ol’ bad luck, both in terms of injuries and their batted ball results (.282 BABIP).

The biggest positive surprise for the Mets this season has been the steadiness of the bullpen. That’s also the easiest area to address at the trade deadline if some of their key cogs begin to show signs of regression in July.

At least there’s the framework of a well-rounded contender in New York, which is more than can be said of any other NL East club. Do not hesitate to add SimMets to your portfolio.

SimNationals

Current Price: $28.70

My Memorial Day advice was to “stay away” from SimNationals. Since then, Kyle Schwarber has ascended to a higher plane of homer-mashing existence. That hot streak has dramatically changed the vibe around the Nats, but obviously his pace of a dinger a day is unsustainable.

Washington’s front office is traditionally eager to buy at the trade deadline. With this possibly being Max Scherzer’s final season in DC and Schwarber’s only season before re-entering the free agent market, count on them to acquire reinforcements of some kind.

SimNationals should see some uptick in value during the second half of the summer.

SimPhillies

Current Price: $29.80

There are some parallels between the Mets and Phillies offenses—this group has the potential for improvement if some of the big names begin performing in line with their pre-2021 track records. The Phils also steal bases efficiently and have been getting a special season from ace Zack Wheeler.

However, the sloppy fielding and suspect pitching depth will be tough to remedy on the fly.

This is a “meh” team.