Week 25 National League East Power Rankings

NL East Power Ranking

We have just a couple weeks left before the most exciting time of the year begins: MLB Postseason. For the National League East division, they had a quite a week.

This past week, every single NL East team - Washington Nationals, Philadelphia Phillies, Miami Marlins, New York Mets and Atlanta Braves - played at least one series against an NL East foe. The Mets, Marlins and Nationals all played NL East opponents only since last Monday and the Mets played the most games with eight as they had a double-header against the Marlins this past Saturday.

Overall, the Braves have a stranglehold on the division with a 10-game lead over the Nationals. After the Nationals, the Phillies, Mets and Marlins finish out the division. If the season were to end right now and the playoffs were to begin tomorrow, the Braves would be the only team to represent the division. The surging Nationals would fall 4.5 games short of the National League Wild Card spot.

While it would have been nice to do this power ranking all season long, it’s better late than never! Keep in mind, this ranking doesn’t account for the entire season. Instead, the NL East is power ranked based on their performance this past week. This is not a ranking where every game this season is taken into account. Simply put, it’s who did best this past week. It is also important to note that the “week” began last Monday, September 9, and ended Sunday, September 15.

Again, this is a power ranking best on this past week's performance, not the entire season. If you think your team should be higher, start the debate in the discussion box below! Let’s power rank!

Brian Skinnell is a writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter, Like him on Facebook and add him to your network on Google.

No. 5: Miami Marlins - Past Week: 2-6 (Overall: 54-94)

It was an interesting week to be a Marlins fan. They dropped three-of-four against the Braves and rookie Jose Fernandez sparked quite a riot after admiring his first career homer for what the Braves felt was a little too long. Benches and bullpens cleared, and things got a little hairy. After playing the Braves, they then dropped three-of-four against the Mets including a 1-0 loss in extras on Sunday.

No. 4: New York Mets - Past Week: 3-5 (Overall: 67-82)

The Mets started their week off ugly when they dropped four straight games to the surging Nationals. During the sweep, the Mets were outscored 25-5. They were able to recover for the week, and the ranking, by taking care of the Marlins three games to one including a walk off in extras on Sunday afternoon.

No. 3: Philadelphia Phillies - Past Week: 3-3 (Overall: 69-80)

The Phillies welcomed the San Diego Padres and started off that series pretty cold by getting beat 8-2. They recovered nicely and took the remaining two games to win the series. After that, they traveled south to Washington to take on the Nationals and lost two of three games in D.C. However, they did bring Washington's seven-game winning streak to an end on Saturday.

No. 2: Atlanta Braves - Past Week: 4-3 (Overall: 89-60)

The Braves are gearing up for their postseason run in a couple weeks and had a solid week. After that testy series against the Marlins where Jose Fernandez got under their skin, the Braves then returned home to drop two of three games to the Padres. The way they took care of business in Miami has them at number two on this week's ranking.

No. 1: Washington Nationals - Past Week 6-1 (Overall: 79-70)

Right now, there may not be a hotter team in baseball. The Nationals swept the Mets in a big way in New York and then took two-of-three games against the Phillies in D.C. While they still sit 4.5 games out of the NL Wild Card spot, this is a team that most MLB squads shouldn't want to play with the current tear that they are on.