NL Central Wrap Up
Too many question marks. That's the problem in the NL Central this year. Too many question marks.
Like, that screaming dude on late night television hawking his book on getting money from the government's suit question marks.
The Cubs should be tops, but not without Prior and Wood. The Astros should be top three, but what about Brad Lidge and Roger Clemens? About the only team that's solid right now out of the gate is St. Louis.
Looking at their top three starters, it's the best team on paper in the NL Central right now and they have the strongest actual pitching staff (discounting the Cubs injury-plagued starters and no Clemens in Texas). Show me any other team in the Central that can beat the Cardinals at their own game.
The past two seasons have seen the Cards get a great start and hold that lead all year. With the rest of the teams hobbled or just bad, what's to keep them from doing so again? Exactly.
The rest of the division is a mess. It's difficult to gauge the Cubs this year. On paper, they should contend for tops in the NL Central, but in the papers you see a lot of trips to the DL. Milwaukee should be up there, but they have a very young infield, which is something to consider no matter the talent level.
Houston has been there at the end for two years now with different results, but always make their push at the end of the year, after they've been left for dead at the All-Star Break, so how do you discount them off the bat?
I guess what I'm saying is that I'm hedging my bets with the predictions here. If you put me in a basement with no contact with the outside world, pulled teams from a hat for those top four and told me that's how the division would shake out in the end, none of it would surprise me.
So, as it stands, I see the Cardinals up top, the Cubs battling their way to second against their best efforts to start the season without any healthy pitchers who are older than 19 and younger than 38, Milwaukee making the most of their young guys and its middle of the road rotation to third and Houston fading away to fourth.
Feel free to mix and match those teams as you see fit.
National League Central
1.) St. Louis Cardinals
2.) Chicago Cubs
3.) Milwaukee Brewers
4.) Houston Astros
5.) Cincinnati Reds
6.) Pittsburgh Pirates
Like, that screaming dude on late night television hawking his book on getting money from the government's suit question marks.
The Cubs should be tops, but not without Prior and Wood. The Astros should be top three, but what about Brad Lidge and Roger Clemens? About the only team that's solid right now out of the gate is St. Louis.
Looking at their top three starters, it's the best team on paper in the NL Central right now and they have the strongest actual pitching staff (discounting the Cubs injury-plagued starters and no Clemens in Texas). Show me any other team in the Central that can beat the Cardinals at their own game.
The past two seasons have seen the Cards get a great start and hold that lead all year. With the rest of the teams hobbled or just bad, what's to keep them from doing so again? Exactly.
The rest of the division is a mess. It's difficult to gauge the Cubs this year. On paper, they should contend for tops in the NL Central, but in the papers you see a lot of trips to the DL. Milwaukee should be up there, but they have a very young infield, which is something to consider no matter the talent level.
Houston has been there at the end for two years now with different results, but always make their push at the end of the year, after they've been left for dead at the All-Star Break, so how do you discount them off the bat?
I guess what I'm saying is that I'm hedging my bets with the predictions here. If you put me in a basement with no contact with the outside world, pulled teams from a hat for those top four and told me that's how the division would shake out in the end, none of it would surprise me.
So, as it stands, I see the Cardinals up top, the Cubs battling their way to second against their best efforts to start the season without any healthy pitchers who are older than 19 and younger than 38, Milwaukee making the most of their young guys and its middle of the road rotation to third and Houston fading away to fourth.
Feel free to mix and match those teams as you see fit.
National League Central
1.) St. Louis Cardinals
2.) Chicago Cubs
3.) Milwaukee Brewers
4.) Houston Astros
5.) Cincinnati Reds
6.) Pittsburgh Pirates
Labels: Preview-2006
posted by Matt G at
3:24 PM
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