NL Central Preview

Teams in the NL CENTRAL and their record last season:

• Cincinnati Reds 91-71 (Won NL Central)
• St. Louis Cardinals 86-76
• Milwaukee Brewers 77-85
• Houston Astros 76-86
• Chicago Cubs 75-87
• Pittsburgh Pirates 57-105

Cincinnati surprised the nation last year stealing the division crown from the Albert Pujols-led Cardinals. Will they repeat this year??

SIXTH PLACE: PITTSBURGH PIRATES

The Pirates will continue to stink up the league and division this season. They have done nothing to change their status as baseball's worst team. The 2011 Pirates are not much different from the 2010 Pirates, who failed to produce a single player with a batting average above .300, a homer total above 25, an RBI total above 90, and here’s the kicker, no Pirate starter finished the season with double digit wins. The Pirates have had 18 losing seasons in a row and are now led by former Rockies manager Clint Hurdle are likely to make it 19 straight.

FIFTH PLACE: HOUSTON ASTROS 

The Astros have some upside in this position, they were the worst team in the league the first two months of the season, but were 59-52 after June 1st. They finished above the Cubs and Pirates in the division but I don't see the Cubs letting that happen again. The middle of their infield should be a strong point this season with Clint Barmes and Bill Hall, both acquired in the offseason. They also have one of the fastest players in the league leading off in Michael Bourn, who last season became a very good leadoff hitter with 52 steals. Chris Johnson is also coming off a promising rookie year where he batted .300 with 11 HR in only 341 at-bats. Their pitching is very underrated with some good arms. Brett Myers, Wandy Rodriguez, and J.A. Happ will put up good numbers this year for the Stros' and keep them in many games. If all 3 can have good years this team could contend deep into the year. Pay attention to the Astros because they may make some noise during the first half of the season.

FOURTH PLACE: CHICAGO CUBS

The Cubs made some big splashes in the off-season acquiring Matt Garza and Carlos Pena. Those 2 acquisitions should be enough to get them an extra 4-5 wins. The Cubs for years have had a lot of talent but have not been able to play up to it. Especially last year only winning 75 games. They have a great up-and-coming SS in Starlin Castro who looks like he will have a big year this year. He hit .300 this year and in the spring he has hit .350. Marlon Byrd who came out and had a huge breakout year last year making the all-star team and hitting .455 so far in the spring. Aramis Ramirez isn't getting any younger though and he is coming off one of his worst years, due to injury and old age. Another player not getting any younger is Carlos Lee who should still be able to produce 100 RBI, but it’s hard to say when he will finally break down completely. There starting rotation is full of question marks in Carlos Zambrano and Matt Garza, who both have some of the best stuff in the league but are coming off down years. Carlos Marmol is the closer and he blew 5 saves last year but was overall effective, it will be tough for him to duplicate those stats.

THIRD PLACE: ST. LOUIS CARDINALS

The injury to Adam Wainwright killed the Cardinals chances this year in my opinion. They are the one team in the league that have 4 key players that cannot get hurt for them to be successful no matter what, one of those players was Wainwright. The other 3 were Albert Pujols, Matt Holliday, and Chris Carpenter. It’s very hard to replace a player who won 20 games last year and pitched to a 2.42 ERA. The other wild card for the Cardinals is Jaime Garcia. He was 13-7 last year with a 2.70 ERA which were incredible numbers for the rookie. It will be nearly impossible for him to duplicate these in my opinion. His innings jumped from only 39 2/3 innings in 2009 to a career-high 163 1/3 innings. Jumping 124 innings is asking a lot from a 24 year old pitcher. His ERA so far in the spring is a whopping 7.94, which I think is higher than you can expect from him this season but I do think his ERA will be around 4 this season at the lowest. Chris Carpenter is a top-flight pitcher in the game, but he’s 37 and is injury prone, and from how his spring started with the injury, the Cardinals should be very concerned. There are just too many question marks for the Cardinals to be successful I think.

SECOND PLACE: MILWAUKEE BREWERS

The Brewers are in good shape this year to have a monster year. They traded for former CY Young award winner Zach Greinke who will be coming from the AL. History shows pitchers coming from the AL to the NL have a decrease in ERA. For example, Roy Halladay in the AL (2009): 2.79, in the NL (2010): 2.44. CC Sabathia 2008 in the AL: 3.83, in the NL 2008: 1.65. In 2009, Greinke pitched to a 2.16 ERA in the AL. It's reasonable to predict Greinke could pitch to a 2.5-3.0 ERA all season if healthy. Not only did they get Zach Greinke, they also traded for Shaun Marcum who has a very impressive season last year. Marcum posted a 13-8 record with an ERA of 3.64. The Brewers come into this season with what could be one of the better rotations in the league. Randy Wolf, who is capable to be a good #2 in this league (and was last year), is now a #4 on this staff. They have a very good team and if they can stay healthy and Prince Fielder can bounce back from his .261 year last year this team could go very deep into the playoffs and possibly win this division.

FIRST PLACE: CINCINNATI REDS

The Reds are basically the same team from last year just with more experience now. This team reminds me of the 2008 Philadelphia Phillies. In 2007 the Phillies made the playoffs for the first time and were swept by the Rockies. In 2010, the Reds made the playoffs for the first time and were swept by the Phillies. This team comes in to the season with a big chip on their shoulder and a ton of attitude. Aroldis Chapman gets a full year after dazzling scouts, fans, and batters with fastballs in triple-digits. Joey Votto, the reigning NL MVP, should have another stellar year leading what was the best offense in the league last year to a similar outcome this season. They were the best team in baseball against teams with a below .500 record and were one of the worst against teams with an above .500 record. Their taste of the postseason was short-lived, being swept by the Phillies, including being no-hit by Roy Halladay in Game 1 and having Cole Hamels dominate them in their final game. Drew Stubbs is coming off a good year and looks to improve and continue his success for the whole season. Stubbs, Votto, Rolen, Phillips, and Jay Bruce lead the offense with a few players who compliment the offense perfectly. Their main weakness would be their young pitching staff. They have some good pitchers to go with that great offense led by Johnny Cueto, Edinson Volquez and Bronson Arroyo. Cueto and Volquez can be two of the top pitchers in the NL if they get their mind right and Arroyo is going to give them another good season. Mike Leake who was a breakout player last year as their #3 pitcher has been sent down to AAA, showing how much depth the Reds currently have in their rotation. Due to their offense and depth in the rotation I see the Reds winning the division and challenging the Phillies for best record in the NL.