National League Central Midseason Review
July 24th 2009 16:11
The NL Central is the only division where all of the teams are still close enough to win the division. At the bottom, the Pirates are aggressively rebuilding their team, but they have managed to stay within a single-digit deficit. The Reds have been outscored by 65 runs this season, but they are still only 6 games back. But the Cubs, Brewers, and Astros look to be the serious threats to the Cardinals staying on top of the division.
Standings
St. Louis Cardinals
Chicago Cubs 1.5 GB
Houston Astros 1.5 GB
Milwaukee Brewers 2.5 GB
Cincinnati Reds 6 GB
Pittsburgh Pirates 8.5 GB
Playoff Contenders
St. Louis Cardinals
Strength: Pujols and two aces. Albert Pujols has been hands-down the best offensive player in baseball this year. He has a line of .328/.450/.711 with 34 HR and 90 RBI. The Cards also boast two of the best pitchers in the game in Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright. Carpenter has a 2.26 ERA with pinpoint control and only 4 balls leaving the yard. Wainwright has his own impressive 2.95 ERA with a dominant 8.16 K/9.
Weakness: All hitters not named Pujols. The Cardinals have had a fairly productive offense this season, but that is due entirely to Pujols. Behind Pujols' .450 OBP and 34 HR, the next-best regular has an OBP of .366 and only 3 HR. They have also given significant playing time to Thurston, Duncan, Ryan, and Rasmus, all with OBPs below .330 and Barden, Ankiel, and both Greenes, all with OBPs below .300. Ryan Ludwick, with his 16 HR, is the only other player to offer any power of note; although, a .340 OBP and time missed to an injury make him far less than a star in the OF.
Chicago Cubs
Strength: Deep rotation. The Cubs' rotation does not have a Cy Young candidate in it, but they do go three deep with guys that would be the ace for many other teams. Ted Lilly has combined his 7.83 K/9 with a low 1.90 BB/9 to produce a 3.59 ERA, Randy Wells has kept the ball in the yard and limited walks for a 3.00 ERA, and Carlos Zambrano has also kept the ball in the yard while striking out 7.5 per 9 innings. Following up these three, Ryan Dempster has been more than an adequate fourth starter, posting an ERA of 4.09. Rich Harden has been burdened by a high HR rate, but his high K:BB ratio point to a rebound in the second half.
Weakness: Offense. Jake Fox has been their most productive hitter, but he has only 98 plate appearances. Derrek Lee (18 HR) and Alfonso Soriano (16 HR) are the only guys on the team with double-digit home run totals, but they have OBPs of only .354 and .309, respectively. Fukudome has a has a nice .375 OBP, but no power. Aramis Ramirez missed significant time with an injury and was not much better than average when he did play. Soto has turned into a singles hitter. Milton Bradley (6) has only three more home runs than Carlos Zambrano (3), in 228 more plate appearances. They also have gotten a handful of performances that are just too terrible to even mention. If the Cubs somehow make the playoffs, they have nowhere near the offense to produce against the aces of a playoff team.
Houston Astros
Strength: Offense. Aside from Darrin Erstad and Kaz Matsui trying as hard as they can to not get on base, the Astros have had a surprisingly effective offense. Berkman has been the catalyst, with a .407 OBP and 18 HR. Carlos Lee has helped to supply some more power to the lineup with 15 HR. Tejada has hit .327 with 30 doubles at SS, a position where having an offensive threat has basically been non-existent in the league. Hunter Pence has gotten on base at a solid clip while providing some pop. Michael Bourn and his blinding speed have managed a .357 OBP with 36 stolen bases.
Weakness: Rotation depth. While Wandy Rodriguez and Roy Oswalt have been a good 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation, the remaining starters have struggled to produce. Brian Moehler and Mike Hampton have ERAs in the high-4.00's, while not going deep into starts. They have used both Russ Ortiz and Felipe Paulino as #5 starters, but they have managed less than impressive numbers, with ERAs as starters of 5.02 and 5.80, respectively.
Milwaukee Brewers
Strength: Offense. The Brewers' offense is the strongest in the division. Prince Fielder has become one of the best bats in the majors this year, bashing 24 HR and posting a .438 OBP. Ryan Braun would be the best hitter on most other teams, getting on base 38.6% of the time and hitting 18 home runs. Cameron has filled in well as the third most productive hitter in the lineup, with 14 HR and a .366 OBP. Rookie Casey McGehee has made about as much use of 178 plate appearances as a player could, with a .910 OPS. Speaking of doing a lot in a short amount of time, new addition Felipe Lopez has hit .556 in 10 plate appearances. Old-man Craig Counsell still knows how to get on base.
Weakness: All starters not named Yovanni. While Gallardo has been dominant this year, the rest of the rotation has not caught on to what it takes to pitch well. Looper is 9-4, but has an ERA of 4.64, strikes out too few, walks too many, and allows way too many home runs. Jeff Suppan has been the definition of hittable. Dave Bush and Manny Parra have sky-high ERAs. If it weren't for the effort of the guys on offense, the #2-#5 slots in the rotation would have a hard time winning a game.
Standings
St. Louis Cardinals
Chicago Cubs 1.5 GB
Houston Astros 1.5 GB
Milwaukee Brewers 2.5 GB
Cincinnati Reds 6 GB
Pittsburgh Pirates 8.5 GB
Playoff Contenders
St. Louis Cardinals
Strength: Pujols and two aces. Albert Pujols has been hands-down the best offensive player in baseball this year. He has a line of .328/.450/.711 with 34 HR and 90 RBI. The Cards also boast two of the best pitchers in the game in Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright. Carpenter has a 2.26 ERA with pinpoint control and only 4 balls leaving the yard. Wainwright has his own impressive 2.95 ERA with a dominant 8.16 K/9.
Weakness: All hitters not named Pujols. The Cardinals have had a fairly productive offense this season, but that is due entirely to Pujols. Behind Pujols' .450 OBP and 34 HR, the next-best regular has an OBP of .366 and only 3 HR. They have also given significant playing time to Thurston, Duncan, Ryan, and Rasmus, all with OBPs below .330 and Barden, Ankiel, and both Greenes, all with OBPs below .300. Ryan Ludwick, with his 16 HR, is the only other player to offer any power of note; although, a .340 OBP and time missed to an injury make him far less than a star in the OF.
Chicago Cubs
Strength: Deep rotation. The Cubs' rotation does not have a Cy Young candidate in it, but they do go three deep with guys that would be the ace for many other teams. Ted Lilly has combined his 7.83 K/9 with a low 1.90 BB/9 to produce a 3.59 ERA, Randy Wells has kept the ball in the yard and limited walks for a 3.00 ERA, and Carlos Zambrano has also kept the ball in the yard while striking out 7.5 per 9 innings. Following up these three, Ryan Dempster has been more than an adequate fourth starter, posting an ERA of 4.09. Rich Harden has been burdened by a high HR rate, but his high K:BB ratio point to a rebound in the second half.
Weakness: Offense. Jake Fox has been their most productive hitter, but he has only 98 plate appearances. Derrek Lee (18 HR) and Alfonso Soriano (16 HR) are the only guys on the team with double-digit home run totals, but they have OBPs of only .354 and .309, respectively. Fukudome has a has a nice .375 OBP, but no power. Aramis Ramirez missed significant time with an injury and was not much better than average when he did play. Soto has turned into a singles hitter. Milton Bradley (6) has only three more home runs than Carlos Zambrano (3), in 228 more plate appearances. They also have gotten a handful of performances that are just too terrible to even mention. If the Cubs somehow make the playoffs, they have nowhere near the offense to produce against the aces of a playoff team.
Houston Astros
Strength: Offense. Aside from Darrin Erstad and Kaz Matsui trying as hard as they can to not get on base, the Astros have had a surprisingly effective offense. Berkman has been the catalyst, with a .407 OBP and 18 HR. Carlos Lee has helped to supply some more power to the lineup with 15 HR. Tejada has hit .327 with 30 doubles at SS, a position where having an offensive threat has basically been non-existent in the league. Hunter Pence has gotten on base at a solid clip while providing some pop. Michael Bourn and his blinding speed have managed a .357 OBP with 36 stolen bases.
Weakness: Rotation depth. While Wandy Rodriguez and Roy Oswalt have been a good 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation, the remaining starters have struggled to produce. Brian Moehler and Mike Hampton have ERAs in the high-4.00's, while not going deep into starts. They have used both Russ Ortiz and Felipe Paulino as #5 starters, but they have managed less than impressive numbers, with ERAs as starters of 5.02 and 5.80, respectively.
Milwaukee Brewers
Strength: Offense. The Brewers' offense is the strongest in the division. Prince Fielder has become one of the best bats in the majors this year, bashing 24 HR and posting a .438 OBP. Ryan Braun would be the best hitter on most other teams, getting on base 38.6% of the time and hitting 18 home runs. Cameron has filled in well as the third most productive hitter in the lineup, with 14 HR and a .366 OBP. Rookie Casey McGehee has made about as much use of 178 plate appearances as a player could, with a .910 OPS. Speaking of doing a lot in a short amount of time, new addition Felipe Lopez has hit .556 in 10 plate appearances. Old-man Craig Counsell still knows how to get on base.
Weakness: All starters not named Yovanni. While Gallardo has been dominant this year, the rest of the rotation has not caught on to what it takes to pitch well. Looper is 9-4, but has an ERA of 4.64, strikes out too few, walks too many, and allows way too many home runs. Jeff Suppan has been the definition of hittable. Dave Bush and Manny Parra have sky-high ERAs. If it weren't for the effort of the guys on offense, the #2-#5 slots in the rotation would have a hard time winning a game.
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