RON SEIBEL: Freddie Freeman carries hot first half into All-Star week

Is it just me, or are the NL East standings starting to look a lot like they did four or five years ago?

Philadelphia, which was absolutely in the tank last season and had major pitching issues to start the 2018 season, is surging. The Phillies, who won seven out of their past 10 heading into Saturday, find themselves atop the NL East, much in the same way they did when Cole Hamels and Roy Halladay were taking the mound for them a few years back.

The Braves, also in the tank the last couple of years, have cooled a bit this month but are still in a good spot heading into the All-Star break.

Heading into Saturday’s game against Arizona, the Braves were five games ahead of .500 pace. That’s not bad for a team that could only dream of .500 in recent years, a sign that the strategy of patiently developing the farm is paying off. The All-Star break also comes at a good time for a team that was 3-7 in its previous 10 games heading into Saturday.

Washington, the team that took advantage of the Philadelphia and Atlanta declines in recent years? Struggling at the .500 mark.

That race takes a pause for a few days and the Midsummer Classic. But with the Braves sending two position players (Freddie Freeman and Nick Markakis) to the All-Star Game as starters and a starting pitcher (Mike Foltynewicz) in the rotation for the NL, the activities in Washington the next couple of days will be of interest to Braves fans.

Notably, Monday’s Home Run Derby will have Braves participation for the first time since Andruw Jones competed in 2005, with Freeman taking part.

The format this year is a seeded bracket, with No. 7 seed Freeman taking on Washington’s Bryce Harper, the No. 2 seed.

Taking on Harper in his home park won’t be an easy pull. Harper has the advantage of being able to take batting practice there up to 81 times in a season, and he will have a home crowd pulling for him.

But it is All-Star week. Anything can happen.

“I’m hoping the fans are too excited for him and he gets nervous and hits zero,” Freeman told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We’ll see what happens.”

So who will win the Home Run Derby? Here’s three guesses:

Jesus Aguilar, Brewers: Is there such a thing as a good luck bump from the final fan vote for the NL all-star spot? It’s odd that the NL home runs leader (23 heading into Saturday) was forced into the final vote, but he’s on a hot streak: All of his home runs this season have come since April 21.

Max Muncy, Dodgers: Oakland gave up on him last year. The Los Angeles Dodgers gave him new life, and he rewarded them with 21 homers so far this season, heading into Saturday.

The Freeman-Harper winner: Harper makes his first Home Run Derby appearance in five years. Freeman makes his first. It’s a player having a strong season against a hometown hero. A case of start hot, stay hot Monday night for one of these two?

Contact sports editor Ron Seibel at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @RonSeibel.