NL: Grand Central

Posted by JE Powell

This is day 3 of the United Cardinal Bloggers Monthly Project-March and today we are dealing with the NL Central Division. I have already posted about where I think the teams in the NL Central will finish (you can read it in my first post), but I have changed my mind slightly.

NL Central

1. St. Louis Cardinals     92-70

Part of the reason for putting the Cardinals in first place is that, as a die hard fan, I just don’t have the heart to rank them lower. The other part is that I feel they underachieved last season when they faded down the stretch to lose out to the Reds. For the Cards to be successful this season they need steady production from Lance Berkman and Kyle McClellan to be a solid fifth starter.

2. Cincinnati Reds     90-72

The Reds lead most of the offensive categories last season in the NL and I think they may again this year. Bronson Arroyo is a solid starter and Mike Leake is a good, young pitcher, but I feel the Cards have a better starting rotation. The Reds have the reigning MVP in Joey Votto and overall the Reds had a very good defensive team. I would be irritated, to say the least, but not surprised if they won the division. I think that the Wild Card will come out of the East again, so winning the Central Division is the only way into the playoffs.

3. Milwaukee Brewers     87-75

This is another team that I wouldn’t be surprised to see win the division. The additions of Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum gives the Brew Crew a legitimate ace and very good number two starter. Along with last years staff ace Yovani Gallardo, the Brewers will be very tough to beat in a series.

4. Chicago Cubs     82-82

The Cubs added starting pitcher Matt Garza and first baseman Carlos Pena in the offseason which were some good pick-ups. If Aramis Ramirez can stay healthy and Alfonso Soriano can live up to expectations for once, then the Cubs should be able to at least finish at .5oo.

5. Houston Astros     75-87

The Astros were awful in April and May last season, but played very well after June 1st. I look for a similar performance again this year, but I feel the rest of the division (other than the Pirates) is much better.

6. Pittsburgh Pirates     63-99

Awful. Just awful. They have some promising talent with their everyday players, but their pitching is atrocious. They only won 57 games last year and they wont do much better this year.

That’s just a quick look at how I think things will play out in the Central Division. Thursday will be the NL West.