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NL Central thread

Clayton

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It l00ks like the Cubs are the team to beat.
Its been this way for about three years now even though I think they're a little weaker this year.

NL Central is definitely getting at least 1 more team into the playoffs, though
 

JohnU

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Its been this way for about three years now even though I think they're a little weaker this year.

NL Central is definitely getting at least 1 more team into the playoffs, though
Hard to tell ... so far, one assumes the Dodgers and D-Backs are going to have good records.
I presume the NL-E will be competitive, which might cut their runnerup record a bit.
It's not May yet. I tend to think wild-card is a September issue.
If the Pirates are legitimately better than they thought, 90 wins will be the score to beat to win the NL-C.
 

JohnU

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this was pretty obvious coming into the season
That was in deference to an earlier post I made about the Brewers being the team to beat.
 

tomcat1

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Hard to tell ... so far, one assumes the Dodgers and D-Backs are going to have good records.
I presume the NL-E will be competitive, which might cut their runnerup record a bit.
It's not May yet. I tend to think wild-card is a September issue.
If the Pirates are legitimately better than they thought, 90 wins will be the score to beat to win the NL-C.


John, I agree with you that the wild-card is a September issue. The cream usually rises to the top in every division as we get late into the season and I just can't see the Dodgers or the Nationals continuing to play as poorly as they are playing right now. Colorado has also been a team on the rise for the past couple of years so when it's all said and done there might not be a wild-card spot available to an NL Central team.
 

Clayton

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Yeah, anything can happen.

Cardinals issues in close games (still) is disconcerting but there are some weird trends in general happening with them that will get ironed out over the course of a season.

Last year you saw 'surges' from each team later in the season (IIRC it was Brewers, Cubs then Cardinals) but the Cardinals fell apart almost immediately after losing Rosenthal and the Cubs just flat out had more talent than the other two teams. We're definitely going to have to wait until after the All Star break. I think the Cardinals might actually be need to be buyers or (hopefully not) sellers. They feel like they are a piece or two short just eyeballing rosters.
 

tomcat1

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Yeah, anything can happen.

Cardinals issues in close games (still) is disconcerting but there are some weird trends in general happening with them that will get ironed out over the course of a season.

Last year you saw 'surges' from each team later in the season (IIRC it was Brewers, Cubs then Cardinals) but the Cardinals fell apart almost immediately after losing Rosenthal and the Cubs just flat out had more talent than the other two teams. We're definitely going to have to wait until after the All Star break. I think the Cardinals might actually be need to be buyers or (hopefully not) sellers. They feel like they are a piece or two short just eyeballing rosters.

Clayton, You nailed it! When we lost Rosenthal it was all downhill and we haven't been able to replace him yet with a dependable closer. We've got to find a way to start winning more of those one run games which means someone has got to step forward from the bullpen and close the game out.
 

BrockForBroglio

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this Cardinal bull pen is garbage.....
 

tomcat1

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this Cardinal bull pen is garbage.....

You're preaching to the choir! I have been preaching this on almost every post!

The Pirates would win the NL Central if all their games were against the Cardinals. They have owned us going on three years now when they use to rarely beat us at all.
 
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What a debut by Nick Kingham today, not sure how we can send him down after this.

I cant believe our rotation is doing this well with all these 1st and 2nd year guys in the rotation.
 

tomcat1

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What a debut by Nick Kingham today, not sure how we can send him down after this.

I cant believe our rotation is doing this well with all these 1st and 2nd year guys in the rotation.

steelparrot, Kingham pitched a great game today indeed and the Pirates have got some great young arms in their starting rotation who have been flying under the radar who will get noticed soon.

I never thought the Pirates would be better this year than they were last year after losing Cole and McCutchen but so far they are so congratulations on a good start.
 
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steelparrot, Kingham pitched a great game today indeed and the Pirates have got some great young arms in their starting rotation who have been flying under the radar who will get noticed soon.

I never thought the Pirates would be better this year than they were last year after losing Cole and McCutchen but so far they are so congratulations on a good start.


There is still time for it to go bad, but at least we have some depth to replace two or three with nonscrubs. With all these young starting pitchers you can expect a washout or 2 and an injury or 2. We only have 1 injury so far, Musgrove, but he should be ready to go in by the end of the month.

The Cole loss sucks, but we got some pieces back. I think you can stick a fork in McCutchen though. He is a shadow of his former self now.

I still dont see how we got Dickerson for damn near nothing.
 

JohnU

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Try to remember, a near-no hitter is one game.
I refer you to Phillip Humber for more evidence.
 

tomcat1

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Somehow I get this not so comfy cozy feeling that the Cubs will start taking control of the NL Central soon and start separating themselves from the 2nd place team but I sure hope I'm wrong.
 

JohnU

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Hey, no trying to scrubify Kingham for 24 hours!
He might be the real deal, probably is. But it's hard to consistently pitch like that.
Reds have this kid Tyler Mahle who is carving up hitters this year (even has a shutout over the Cubs) and he's due to get bonked around a few times. Big league hitters ain't a-skeered of hard-throwing rookies.
 

JohnU

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Somehow I get this not so comfy cozy feeling that the Cubs will start taking control of the NL Central soon and start separating themselves from the 2nd place team but I sure hope I'm wrong.
Well, fuck them for trying to do that.
 

BrockForBroglio

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Not sure if I posted this before but John Mabry needs to go as hitting coach. STL hitters TAKE so many strikes and then are behind in the count. Their approach at the plate it pitiful. I am sick and tired of Danny McAwfuline saying that Carpenter is such a great 2 strike hitter.

SWING THE FRIGGIN BAT....
 

tomcat1

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Well, fuck them for trying to do that.

John, Now the Cubs wouldn't be playing fair if they decided to go run off and hide would they?

I guess all is fair in love, war, and taking a lead in your division in baseball.
 
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He might be the real deal, probably is. But it's hard to consistently pitch like that.
Reds have this kid Tyler Mahle who is carving up hitters this year (even has a shutout over the Cubs) and he's due to get bonked around a few times. Big league hitters ain't a-skeered of hard-throwing rookies.

Oh I'm sure he wont keep going like his first start. If he can just be a league average starting pitcher, Ill take it, I'm not greedy :)
 
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