2017 NL CENTRAL DISCUSSION

[JohnU]

Cubs (98 wins) will be the only playoff team.

I think the Cardinals have a chance to win enough to make a play-in game. I do think the wild cards will be pretty tightly bunched.

 

[scoutyjones2]

Cubs (98 wins) will be the only playoff team.

I'll take the under on that

 

[Ickey Shuffle]

The Reds are in 1st place! #WeBelieve

 

[Ickey Shuffle]

This one belongs to the Reds!

3-1. Inhale and exhale. One game at a time.

 

[Ickey Shuffle]

And the Reds take the rubber! Continuing the underdog tour in Pittsburgh

 

[Clayton]

Cardinals showing a lot of the same issues as last year. Bad fielding, struggling at home. The offense not showing up in half of the games is new, though.

There are some signs of hope for the season but there are a ton of things to clean up.

 

[Clayton]

Cards bullpen is a fisaco early.

Cecil has an ERA of 15.0 in 4 innings with opponents hitting .438 and slugging .688.
Siegrist and Broxton have combined for 8 walks in 5 innings.

Definitely need to get that fixed as they've probably already accounted for 3-4 losses.

 

[Ickey Shuffle]

Another one belongs to the Reds! Series already wrapped up. Onto Milwaukee

 

[scoutyjones2]

Cards bullpen is a fisaco early.

Cecil has an ERA of 15.0 in 4 innings with opponents hitting .438 and slugging .688.
Siegrist and Broxton have combined for 8 walks in 5 innings.

Definitely need to get that fixed as they've probably already accounted for 3-4 losses.

Oh is garbage. Teams have learned that he doesn't throw strikes so work the count

 

[scoutyjones2]

Cardinals showing a lot of the same issues as last year. Bad fielding, struggling at home. The offense not showing up in half of the games is new, though.

There are some signs of hope for the season but there are a ton of things to clean up.

I don't see any signs of hope other than you have 154 more games to right the ship...but this ship is full of holes.

 

[Clayton]

I don't see any signs of hope other than you have 154 more games to right the ship...but this ship is full of holes.

Yeah, everything looked good on paper and then you put it in motion and its just a mess right now.

If you've got the worst bullpen in baseball, an average starting rotation and a sub par defense then you're talking about last place. Cardinals situation right now is something that I haven't seen in almost 20 years. They've been either above average or contenders but with the roster as is, this might be a step back season that the Cardinals had been able to avoid in the past. There is still talent but if these types of things happen to the Red Sox and Giants it stands to reason that it can happen to anyone and it seems like there are 2-3 gaping roster holes at the moment.

 

[scoutyjones2]

Yeah, everything looked good on paper and then you put it in motion and its just a mess right now.

If you've got the worst bullpen in baseball, an average starting rotation and a sub par defense then you're talking about last place. Cardinals situation right now is something that I haven't seen in almost 20 years. They've been either above average or contenders but with the roster as is, this might be a step back season that the Cardinals had been able to avoid in the past. There is still talent but if these types of things happen to the Red Sox and Giants it stands to reason that it can happen to anyone and it seems like there are 2-3 gaping roster holes at the moment.

I never thought it looked good on paper. no threat anywhere in the lineup and a bunch of meh defenders

 

[Ickey Shuffle]

I still think the Cardinals will be right in the middle of the Wild Card race in a couple months. Won't fall into that trap of taking them lightly regardless of how it looks right now.

 

[DweeberAZ]

 

[Ickey Shuffle]

The Cubs will get their's soon.

 

[Ickey Shuffle]

 

[Ickey Shuffle]

Reds came back down to Earth. It was fun living in fantasy land for that brief period.

 

[BrockForBroglio]

With Matheny at the helm, fundamentals are no where to be seen. I can't remember the last time I saw a sacrifice bunt to move the runner over. Matheny thinks everyone will get a hit and be like they were in the past, hitting .380 with RISP. IMO, they need to bring Oquendo back into the fold. That seems to be the time the defense took a dive, when he was not there.

 

[bksballer89]

Pirates sweep the Cubs in Wrigley after being swept at home by the Reds.

 

[Diamondeye]

Pirates sweep the Cubs in Wrigley after being swept at home by the Reds.

I'm honestly not sure what to make of the Pirates.

There's a LOT of talent there, especially pertaining to the rotation and outfield.

Watching Jameson Taillon pitch today was awesome. I'm really hoping for Gerrit Cole and Tyler Glasnow to get it together enough for the Pirates to have another Hudson/Mulder/Zito, Maddux/Smoltz/Glavine, Price/Garza/Shields type rotation for the next 2-3 years.

The potential is there.